Manual regulation of the drug market may worsen patients' access to medicines - CF “Patients of Ukraine” (video)

Manual regulation of the pharmaceutical market, which is to be introduced by amending the draft law No. 11493, can significantly limit the access of Ukrainians to medicines and create artificial supply problems. This was stated by the Executive Director of the CF "Patients of Ukraine" Inna Ivanenko at a press conference, according to a correspondent of UNN.

According to her, the introduction of restrictions on the volume of drug purchases by one distributor in the amount of no more than 15% of the total volume is a manual regulation of the market and does not comply with international practice.

"We are very concerned that these changes will not negatively affect patients' access to medicines. Because such a manual quota by the state is a manual regulation of the market. That is, no more than 15% can be purchased from the manufacturer by a distributor and sold to a pharmacy, which has never happened anywhere else in the world. I know that our international organizations that provide technical assistance and the Ministry of Health have even analyzed whether there is such a practice in the world. In civilized countries, there is no such practice, the market regulates itself, and this is the best mechanism, because natural competition is the best way to reduce prices," said Inna Ivanenko.

The expert also expressed concern that the introduction of quotas could lead to a reduction in the range of medicines in pharmacies, as well as create barriers to patient access to important medicines.

"There is even a threat that this access (to medicines - ed.) may deteriorate, because we will artificially drag unknown distributors into the market, who may not be able to supply even 15% of the medicines to the pharmacy," she emphasized.

In her opinion, a balanced approach is needed to ensure that the proposed changes do not harm patients.

"That is why I am very worried that our assortment in pharmacies will decrease. This may not affect the price of medicines, because the distributor's markup is the smallest in the formation of the price of a medicine. It is very insignificant and does not make any difference at all," emphasized Ivanenko.

Context

At the end of November, the Verkhovna Rada adopted as a basis the draft law No. 11493 on amendments to the Law of Ukraine "On Medicines". Its primary purpose is to simplify the registration of medicines for centralized procurement. However, the amendments to be introduced in the second reading have caused significant concern among pharmacists and specialized associations.

Pharmaceutical market participants warn of significant negative consequences for the pharmaceutical industry and society as a whole: worsening of the availability of medicines and their significant rise in price. Industry experts point out that the application of the e-catalog to the relationship between the manufacturer/importer of medicines and the pharmacy chain will create additional bureaucracy and may cause delays in the supply of medicines. And the proposal to limit sales to one business entity to 15% raises concerns that pharmacies will not be able to obtain sufficient stocks of medicines, which will result in an artificial shortage for customers.

In addition, pharmaceutical market experts are concerned that the process of preparing these amendments may have signs of corruptionaimed at lobbying the interests of certain pharmaceutical players, and the amendments themselves will lead to loss of tax revenues.

At its meeting on December 9, the Committee on National Health planned to consider the scandalous amendments to the draft law No. 11493, but due to the active position of the pharmaceutical market participants, this issue was postponed . However, the pharmaceutical market participants fear that the consideration of the amendments was postponed deliberately to "push through" them when the outrage of the professional community subsides and there is no time for a comprehensive discussion. According to the agency's interlocutors, the consideration was postponed to December 19, and the committee may meet in the morning, and then the amendments to the law will be sent directly to the Verkhovna Rada and voted on the same day.