The Ministry of Health forgot which drugs were included in the TOP-100 and could not explain why clonidine was included in the list.

The Ministry of Health cannot clearly explain which drugs are included in the list of TOP-100 drugs, for which the price was to be reduced by 30% from March 1. This became obvious during a closed meeting chaired by Deputy Head of the Office of the President Iryna Vereshchuk, UNN writes, citing an informed interlocutor who was present at the event.

The question to the Ministry of Health arose after one of the participants of the meeting drew attention to the fact that clofelin was included in the list of TOP-100 for some reason — a drug whose effectiveness and expediency in modern medicine raises questions. Iryna Vereshchuk expressed doubt that this is really a necessary and popular drug that should be among the priorities for price reduction.

Deputy Minister of Health Edem Adamov could not accurately explain why this drug was included in the list, and generally stated that he "does not remember" the full list of TOP-100. In response to clarifying questions, he tried to justify himself by saying that the Ministry of Health formed this list based on Proxima Research data.

However, this information was denied by a representative of Proxima Research, who was present at the meeting. He stated directly that the company's analysts were not involved in the formation of the TOP-100 list, but are ready to conduct an independent analysis to find out whether the current list corresponds to really popular drugs on the Ukrainian market.

In response, the Ministry of Health continued to insist that Proxima's analytical data was the basis for the formation of the list. 

After that, representatives of pharmaceutical manufacturers took the floor and tried to explain the situation by saying that unpopular drugs could have been included in the list only because some of the popular drugs in Ukraine are imported.

Iryna Vereshchuk asked the Proxima representative to form a list of really popular drugs among Ukrainians and promised to show it to President Volodymyr Zelensky.

Let us remind you

In February, the Cabinet of Ministers adopted Resolution No. 168, which provides for new rules of regulation of the pharmaceutical market. In particular, restrictions were introduced on markups on supply and marketing and retail allowances for all medicines, and not only for certain categories. In addition, the resolution prohibits retailers from entering into marketing agreements with pharmaceutical manufacturers, which allowed pharmacies to make discounts for patients, implement social projects and train pharmacists.

The purpose of the resolution was to reduce the prices of medicines and increase their accessibility to the population. At the same time, patient organizations warned that excessive regulation could lead to a shortage of medicines, the closure of pharmacies in small towns and villages, as well as the termination of social programs to support patients.

As reported UNN in the State Regulatory Service, despite the fact that this resolution of the Cabinet of Ministers is regulatory, it did not pass their expertise. They stressed that this is a violation of the Law on Regulatory Policy.