Student Number : 7909638 - MCom dissertation - School of Economics and Business Sciences - Faculty of Commerce, Law and Management / Healthcare, it can be argued, is a commodity that has a social constitution. The reason may be because healthcare is seen to have its foundation in socio-economic principles but has evolved through scientific study and business application into a profitable business. The delivery of healthcare in South Africa and in many parts of the world has come under immense scrutiny from policy-makers, high-volume purchasers, patient-consumers and the healthcare community. Arguments criticizing the high cost of healthcare delivery range from levelling the blame on one component (pharmaceuticals, medical fees, inadequate medical scheme cover to name a few examples) to a condemnation of the entire healthcare delivery system. The healthcare cost deliberation has also shifted to the centre stage in many public-policy debates and certainly caught the imagination of the public and journalists alike. It is an emotional debate. A review of related literature of the past fifty years (such as the Sainsbury Report (1967), the Kefauver Hearings (1963) and the Snyman Report (1962)), reveals that healthcare and the cost of healthcare delivery are some of the most frequently debated areas amongst the citizens and policy makers of both the developed and developing world. Pharmaceutical prices, more often than not, have been cast as the primary reason that the delivery cost of healthcare is so high. The methods used by pharmaceutical companies to promote their products – elaborate conventions, colourful brochures and generous amounts of free samples (certainly in previous years) to physicians may have contributed to this perception. Furthermore, the fact that the absolute cost of manufacturing a single capsule or tablet (including drugs that are no longer under patent) is a small fraction of the actual selling price also tends to raise the public ire. A greater understanding of pricing structures is necessary to appreciate this sector. The writer’s own experience in the area of healthcare that involves insurance for medical risks (medical schemes - the private healthcare funding system) suggests that it is crucial that pharmaceutical pricing structures be understood against this backdrop. Therefore the main reasons for undertaking this study are: i. to appreciate the pricing structures of pharmaceuticals to inform policy debates; ii. the current empirical evidence1 in the South African market has indicated that pharmaceuticals are unfairly priced and has prompted the Department of Health to introduce price regulations2. One goal of the research is to ascertain whether this is accurate; and iii. to obtain a broader knowledge base of the issue of pharmaceutical pricing practices in the South African healthcare market. It was with this approach that the area of pharmaceutical pricing and the topic was decided upon.

The aim of the present study is to develop a statistical algorithm and model associ- ated with breast and lung cancer patients. In this study, we developed several statistical softwares, R packages, and models using our new statistical approach. In the present study, we used the five parameters logistic model for determining the optimal doses of a pharmaceutical drugs, including dynamic initial points, an automatic process for outlier detection and an algorithm that develops a graphic user interface(GUI) program. The developed statistical procedure assists medical scientists by reducing their time in determining the optimal dose of new drugs, and can also easily identify which drugs need more experimentation. Secondly, in the present study, we developed a new classification method that is very useful in the health sciences. We used a new decision tree algorithm and a random forest method to rank our variables and to build a final decision tree model. The decision tree can identify and communicate complex data systems to scientists with minimal knowledge in statistics. Thirdly, we developed statistical packages using the Johnson SB probability distribu- tion which is important in parametrically studying a variety of health, environmental, and engineering problems. Scientists are experiencing difficulties in obtaining estimates for the four parameters of the subject probability distribution. The developed algorithm com- bines several statistical procedures, such as, the Newtwon Raphson, the Bisection, the Least Square Estimation, and the regression method to develop our R package. This R package has functions that generate random numbers, calculate probabilities, inverse probabilities, and estimate the four parameters of the SB Johnson probability distribution. Researchers can use the developed R package to build their own statistical models or perform desirable statistical simulations. The final aspect of the study involves building a statistical model for lung cancer sur- vival time. In developing the subject statistical model, we have taken into consideration the number of cigarettes the patient smoked per day, duration of smoking, and the age at diagnosis of lung cancer. The response variables the survival time. The significant factors include interaction. the probability density function of the survival times has been obtained and the survival function is determined. The analysis is have on your groups the involve gender and with factors. A companies with the ordinary survival function is given.

Dans le but d'accroître nos connaissances sur les poudres pour usage alimentaire ou pharmaceutique, nous proposons d'étudier l'effet des procédés de fabrication, de mise en forme, la granulation sur la réactivité des poudres. La première partie est consacrée à l'effet de pureté sur les interactions-Lactose Lactose et Lactose-API mesurées / quantifiée par des techniques de champ proche (AFM, SMM, MSAFM) sous atmosphère ambiante et dans des conditions de stress stockage. Dérivant une seconde partie de la partie précédente mettra en évidence les effets des interactions sur différentes formulations pharmaceutiques, telles que la compression directe et avec une poudre sèche Inhalation inhalateur. Tout ce travail aidera à comprendre l'impact de la surface de pureté Lactose pharmaceutique qualité et la stabilité des formulations pour inhalation et par compression. / The discovery of the problem will go through training techniques at the nanoscale characterization and chemical analysis, the discovery of the industrial problem in society Armor Proteins, the validation of a pharmaceutical lactose. With the aim to increase our knowledge on powders for food or pharmaceutical use, we propose to study the effect of manufacturing processes, shaping, granulation on the reactivity of powders. The first part is devoted to the effect of purity on interactions-Lactose Lactose and Lactose-API measured / quantified by near-field techniques (AFM, SMM, MSAFM) under ambient atmosphere and under stressful conditions storage. Deriving a second portion of the preceding part will highlight the effects of interactions on different pharmaceutical formulations, such as direct compression and with a Dry Powder Inhalation Inhaler. All of this work will help to understand the impact of purity surface Lactose Pharmaceutical quality and stability of formulations for inhalation and compression.