Column  Finance and the Social Security System  2019.01.25

【Aging, safety net and fiscal crisis in Japan】No.150: Too many dispensing pharmacies

In this column series, Yukihiro Matsuyama, Research Director at CIGS introduces the latest information about aging, safety net and fiscal crisis in Japan with data of international comparison.
Healthcare

As mentioned in Column No. 121, the number of pharmacists has been increasing and the Ministry of Health, Labour and Welfare estimates that there will be an oversupply by 2028. As shown in Figure 1, the number of dispensing pharmacies has also increased, outnumbering convenience stores and post offices.


This is supported by the policy that shifts financial resources to dispensing expenditures at pharmacies through medical reimbursement revisions. As shown in Table 1, the ratio of dispensing expenditures at pharmacies to national medical care expenditures rose from 13.5% in 2005 to 18.0% in 2016. However, most dispensing pharmacies are small stores and it is difficult to determine whether they sufficiently play a role in medication guidance for patients. Therefore, it is expected that the number of dispensing pharmacies will be reduced in the near future.


Figure 1: Number of dispensing pharmacies, convenience stores, and post offices
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Source: Ministry of Health, Labour and Welfare; Ministry of Economy, Trade and Industry; and Ministry of Internal Affairs and Communications


Table 1: Dispensing expenditures at pharmacies (billion yen)
150-table1.png

Source: Ministry of Health, Labour and Welfare