Center for Health Market Innovations (CHMI)

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Farmacias Similares

last updated Sep 27, 2011

Program Type
- Organizing Delivery › Service Delivery Chain
- Organizing Delivery › Retail pharmacy
Health Focus
- Other/Not Applicable

Target Geography Urban
Target Population General population

Overview

Legal Status:

Private (for-profit)

Year Launched:

1997

Stage:

Existing/expansion stage

Income Level of Target Population:

20-60% (lower to lower-middle), 60-90% (middle to upper-middle)

Funding

Primary Source of Funding:

Out-of-pocket payments

Scale

Personnel Employed:

100<

Number of Facilities Operated/Networked:

3400 outlets

Summary:

Farmacias Similares is the largest pharmacy chain in Latin America, selling low-cost medication and offering doctor consultations and laboratory services.

Key program components:

Farmacias Similares owns and operates pharmacies and discount drugstore chains offering generic drugs in Mexico, Guatemala, El-Salvador, Honduras, Costa Rica, Ecuador, Perú, Chile and Argentina. Founded in Mexico, its outlets are located in every major city in the country and serve almost half of the Mexican population.

The outlets sell low-cost "similar" drugs - which differ from generics in that they are not completely equivalent to the original drug - as well as variety of hygiene products. Adjacent to each outlet, medical clinics offer doctor consultation and laboratory services for about $2 per visit. The company operates a 24-hour care hotline.

Location

Country of OperationArgentina, Chile, Costa Rica, Ecuador, El Salvador, Guatemala, Honduras, Mexico, Peru

City/Village of Operation

Province/State(s) of Operation

Contact Information

Website

www.farmaciasdesimilares.com.mx

Survey Information

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The Center for Health Market Innovations (CHMI) promotes programs, policies and practices that make quality health care delivered by private organizations affordable and accessible to the world’s poor. Operated through a global network of partners since 2010, CHMI is managed by the Results for Development Institute. CHMI is funded by the Department for International Development (DFID), the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, and the Rockefeller Foundation.

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