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Tag: pharmaceuticals
Pharmacists influence a fifth of patients in Slovak and Czech republic by choosing of pharmaceutical. The degree of their impact varies depending on particular types of diseases. This results from the study of GfK company on key factors and role of pharmacist by choosing of pharmaceutical, which have made the research on the sample of 2 000 respondents from Slovakia and Czech republic. According to this research, Slovak pharmacists have a little more intensive impact to the decision making of patients and also often offer the alternatives to the prescribed pharmaceutical.
Unused pharmaceuticals that people have not used, will be soon accumulated in pharmacies. State Institute for Drug Control (SIDC), which used to pay for their collection and disposal each spring and autumn, has stopped the autumn collection. The reason is a lack of money and situation will not get better even next year, even though this service is set by the law. For now it is not clear when the collection will be renewed. Pharmacies will until then have to store the unused pharmaceuticals by themselves.
Doctors and patients are afraid of the changes in supplementary charges for pharmaceuticals. Ministry claims that in November, the latest in December the supplementary charges could be adjusted again, as it plans to change the Decree prepared by former Minister Ivan Uhliarik. But even before that it will reportedly modify the supplementary charges that patients will pay from October. Ministry wants to discuss on changes of the Decree also with the professional companies, what will slow-down its preparation.
Supplementary charges of patients should until October according to the representatives of professional medical companies increase by € 51 million. This should be a result of the Decree of Ministry of Health, which has divided a number of pharmaceuticals in Slovak market into the payment groups, so called clusters. Doctors warn that patients will thus have to choose, whether to pay money or waste their health and reach for older, not modern treatment, which they have been using until now.
Export of pharmaceuticals from Slovakia abroad will, according to the pharmaceutical companies, not be decreased even after the adjustments of pharmaceutical laws proposed by the Ministry of Health. Representatives of producers and suppliers of pharmaceuticals are even afraid that the act, which should put the re-export under control, will not be valid at all. The reason is its conflict with the EU legislation.
Ministry of Health claims that at present there is an alarming increase of pharmaceuticals, which are falsified in relation to their identity, history or origin. Ministry of Health therefore in its amendment to the act on pharmaceuticals and medical devices proposes the measures, which should prevent their spreading. Aim of the amendment is to adopt the European Directive from June 2011. Ministry in its material states that counterfeit pharmaceuticals usually contain either substandard or counterfeit ingredients, contain no ingredients or ingredients, including active substances, in wrong amount.
Doctors may from now on still prescribe on the prescriptions beside the active substance of the pharmaceutical also its concrete name. Ministry of Health have left this possibility in the proposal of the amendment to the act on pharmaceuticals. Some experts think that it is wrong. According to them the patient and system would otherwise save more. Amendment is currently in public comments. But even any possible objections of professional public would not make Ministry to change the way of prescribing of pharmaceuticals.
President of Slovak republic, Ivan Gašparovič, has signed the amendment to the act on pharmaceuticals, which tightens the supervision over human pharmaceuticals. Amendment to the act approved in July by members of Parliament also implements the changes by the market supervision and penalties by failing to comply with the provisions of the act. It also tightens the requirements for all subjects treating with human pharmaceuticals, especially the holders of human pharmaceutical registration.
Ministry of Health proposes the changes in pricing of pharmaceuticals brought by last-year pharmaceutical reform made by former Government. As results from the proposal of the amendment to the act on extent and conditions of payments for pharmaceuticals, their price in Slovakia should not be higher than an average of three lowest prices in European Union. This principle affects also the medical devices and dietary supplements. Previously the prices in Slovakia were set by comparing of six lowest prices in EU and according to this average they were determined for the domestic market.
More than 26% of total health care expenditures in 2010 were on pharmaceuticals. Compared to other OECD countries thus Slovakia had the third highest share of expenditures on pharmaceuticals, right after Hungary and Mexico. Slovakia got well above the average of all OECD countries, which stands at 16.6%. This was alleged in the OECD Health Data 2012 report published on the website of the organization, which provides information from 2010.
