EPI-PHARE publishes the first results of a pharmaco-epidemiological study on the dispensing of prescription drugs reimbursed in pharmacies since the start of the pandemic in France.

Based on data from the SNDS, this study indeed compares the number of people having had a dispensing in pharmacies between the beginning of January and the end of March 2020, with the “expected” number of people, estimated on the basis of the same period in 2018 and 2019.

These results highlight two major phenomena: a phenomenon of “storage” for the treatment of chronic pathologies during the first two weeks of confinement, as observed in other areas of consumption, as well as a very strong reduction in deliveries of products requiring administration by a health professional, in particular vaccines. This first report also provides precise information on the dispensing of drugs used in the context of COVID-19 infection.

This study is continuing over time and the additional results, which will cover the first 3 weeks of April, will be announced in early May. A regular update will be implemented thereafter.