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Tag: pharmaceuticals
Pharmaceutical companies do not agree with the new draft law extending the advertising ban to OTC pharmaceuticals containing the same substance or same combination of substances as the Rx pharmaceuticals. Ministry of Health suggested this change in the amendment to the Act on Pharmaceuticals. Pharmaceutical companies are protesting against it in the commentary round. The extended advertising ban would reportedly affect most of currently registered pharmaceuticals.
Ministry of Health refuses the claims of producers and distributors of the pharmaceuticals that the information about their marketing expenses published on the MoH website were incorrect. According to the MoH spokeswoman the ambition of the Ministry was to publish these expenditures to show people the overviews of how much are pharmaceutical companies able and willing to spend on their marketing activities. Representatives of producers and distributors of pharmaceuticals argue that because of the ambiguity of the new Act on Pharmaceuticals they provided the overview of expenses for all marketing activities, not only activities aimed at doctors.
Reports on misleading claims of the Ministry of Health are accumulating. After dissatisfied doctors and ambulances also the suppliers of pharmaceuticals have accused the Ministry of misleading informations. In its statetements MoH wrongly informed on marketing expenditures of pharmaceutical companies. According to the spokeswoman of the Association of Suppliers of Pharmaceuticals and Medical Devices no pharmaceutical company operating in Slovakia spends hundreds of thousands euros monthly on the relations with health care providers.
According to the analysis of the health insurance company Dôvera in 2010 the audit inspectors discovered about 170 000 cases, where patient received the same ąmedical substance from several doctors. In the rare cases it was even 13 packs of the same pharmaceutical per person. Všeobecná zdravotná poisťovňa claims, that there are more than 200 000 people, who daily use more than 10 pharmaceuticals. Currently, the expenses on pharmaceuticals in Slovakia constitute 28% of total health expenses while OECD average is 17%. In relation to GDP Slovakia spends on pharmaceuticals even the most from OECD countries – 2%, while the average is 1.8%.
According to daily Hospodárske noviny from 26/01/2012 Minister of Health Ivan Uhliarik plans to solve the lack of vaccines in outpatient clinics by their central purchasing. Všeobecná zdravotná poisťovňa (General Health Insurance Company) should allegedly directly purchase the vaccines and deliver them to the outpatient clinics. Problem is, that such an organization of the purchasing of vaccines should be functional not sooner than in April, after the preliminary parliamentary elections in March. Doctors, however, warn that influenza vaccination already fell by two thirds and the strongest flu season will come in February.
Doctors are allegedly asking for the declaration of emergency state because of problems with vaccines. According to the President of paediatric section of Slovak Medical Chamber the Council of Chamber should discuss this option and afterwards ask for the declaration of emergency state. President of the Chamber Milan Dragula reportedly has to familiarize himself with the situation after last meetings and then he will decide on the convening of the Council. Doctors will probably, due to the change in the way of purchasing and billing of the vaccines, recourse to the Constitutional Court.
Hospitals should prescribe patients less pharmaceuticals, medical devices and laboratory tests. Otherwise they will not get money for higher salaries of doctors and nurses from Všeobecná zdravotná poisťovňa (General Health Insurance Company). If they reduce their monthly costs by approximately € 4 million, insurance company will from February give them around € 2 million monthly more. According to head of insurance company the reduction of the consumption of pharmaceuticals will not affect the patients and he also claims that hospitals are currently buying and using the pharmaceuticals very ineffectively.
Negotiations of the Ministry of Health with the Slovak Medical Chamber and the Association of General Physicians for Children and Adolescents led to an agreement on the next steps in solving current problems with purchasing of vaccines. MoH, however, will not change the law but promised the simplification and removing of some administrative barriers, which will allow doctors an easier access to vaccines. Vaccines will be reportedly centrally purchased by the state and doctors will call down on them in the regional healthcare authorities.
Act on pharmaceuticals, which has been valid only for two months, will be probably changed. Ministry of Health has submitted its amendment to the public comments. The reason should be the need to implement the Directive of the European Union. Amendment should apply from July 21st this year, but the intention of the Ministry is reportedly the approval of the proposal by the Government before the premature elections in March. Amendment, inter alia, mitigates the rules of offering the presents and benefits to the healthcare professionals from the pharmaceutical representatives.
Most pharmaceuticals in Slovakia are prescribed for persons with cardio-vascular problems, especially pharmaceuticals for high blood pressure. This follows from the scale of 25 most prescribed pharmaceuticals in third quarter of last year, published by the National Health Information Centre. On the first place was a drug prescribed as an anti-inflammatory drug and anti-clotting drug together with pills for high blood pressure. Next was the drug for veins and afterwards the analgesic. Common illnesses, such as various colds and viral, are according to the National Health Information Centre treated by the over-the-counter pharmaceuticals.
