In Brazil, the National Pharmaceutical Assistance Policy was published in 2004. Pharmaceutical assistance at the primary health care level in Brazil is understood as a broad set of activities comprising regulation, planning, distribution and dispensation of essential medicines in primary health care facilities. Considering governance capacity as a key requirement for the success of a public health policy, this article aims to demonstrate the adaptation and operationalization processes of using a national survey database for a national evaluation of the pharmaceutical assistance governance in public primary health care in Brazil.

This is a systematic study of an evaluation model on pharmaceutical assistance governance at the municipal level, and of the data collection instruments and databases used in the recent National Survey on Access, Use and Promotion of Rational Use of Medicines, in addition to the preparation of indicators protocol validated for application throughout the country. The study steps were as follows: selection of data from the survey and their adaptation to evaluation indicators nationwide; validation of an evaluation matrix adapted in a workshop with actors in the field; database construction; data analysis; and, issue of value judgment.

The adaptation of the evaluation matrix caused seventeen indicators to be reformulated. In six of these indicators, the changes referred only to the data source. As the recommended measures could not be implemented due to lack of information, sixteen indicators were excluded from the original protocol. Ultimately, the proposed protocol comprised thirty indicators presented in three dimensions (organizational, operational and sustainability).

The methodology enabled the redesign of the evaluation matrix according to the specific national characteristics by crossing the data provided by the reference survey and evaluation model. The participatory process, the use of data from all actors involved in pharmaceutical assistance at the municipal level, and the use of the principles of the national health policy as the basis for selection and construction of a fitted evaluation protocol are important strengths of the new protocol proposed. The absence of international studies on evaluations using the same model is a major weakness.