Data on antidepressants in Portugal have been increasing since 2019, according to Infarmed, which reveal that in 2021 alone, on average, more than 28,000 packages were sold per day.

The data provided to Lusa by the National Medicines and Health Products Authority (Infarmed) refer only to the first nine months of last year and show that the Portuguese are more than 15.7 million packages of anxiolytics, sedatives, hypnotics and antidepressants, representing a charge to the National Health Service of 46 million euros.

Comparing the last sales evolution before the pandemic – 2019 -, it appears that the consumption of antidepressants has always been growing: In 2019, an average of 25 thousand (25,667) packages were sold per day, in 2020 the value passed 26 thousand (26,858) and, in 2021, exceeded 28,000 daily boxes (28,539), according to accounts made by Lusa.

The consumption of anxiolytics, sedatives and hypnotics no longer decreased between 2019 and 2020, but it did not experience a considerable increase.

On average, almost 28,300 daily packages of anxiolytics, sedatives and hypnotics were sold in 2019, with consumption falling to 28,036 packages the following year. Already last year, the sale points to an average daily value of 29,444 daily packages.

Putting all the medicines together, there is an increase in consumption over the last three years.

The data advanced by the Lus agency are related to a prescription and the National Service, distributed in pharmacies by medicines provided from the information provided by the Portugal Control Center, in continental distribution of the SNS, is the same with the continental distribution of the SNS. .

According to the data, between January and September 2021, 8,008,993 packages of drugs in the anxiolytics, sedatives and hypnotics category were sold, and 7,762,694 packages of the antidepressants category were sold, in a total of 15,771,687 packages, with a charge to the SNS of 46,057,083 euros.

In 2019, the last pre-pandemic year, 10,329,106 packages of anxiolytics, sedatives and hypnotics were sold, representing an expense for the SNS of 19,639,140 euros, and 9,368,778 packages of antidepressants (36,417,184 euros).

In the year in which the covid-19 pandemic began in Portugal, 2020, the Portuguese of 10,233,236 packages of anxiolytics, sedatives and hypnotics, a charge for the NHS of 19,932,64 packages of 19,932.64 euros, and 9. (38,486,797 euros).

In total, 19,69,8847 of this type of medication were sold in the following 2019, totaling 56,056,324 euros for the National Health Service, and 20,036,459 packages in the year, an expense of 58,419,444 euros.