Medicines in Ukraine seem expensive due to the low purchasing power of the population, attempts to regulate the work of pharmacy networks are unlikely to make them available, thinks Co -founder of the Ukrainian Health Center (UHC) Pavel Kovtonyuk.
“Medicines really affect the financial stability of Ukrainian families. But will it save the situation if you do something with pharmacy networks (even if they do something wrong)? I think no. Medicines in Ukraine are “expensive” first of all because Ukrainians have low income, “he wrote on his Facebook page, commenting on the country’s decree to settle prices for medicines.
Kovtonyuk emphasized that “prices for medicines in Ukraine are commensurate with the EU (somewhere higher, somewhere smaller), and income – not commensurate.”
“The average pension in Ukraine is 5800 UAH. Seniors are the main consumers of medicines. The average check at the pharmacy is about 600 UAH. Whatever the reasonable price of medication – they will be expensive for the poor part of society. Therefore, most major medicines that are regularly gone by the poor people are paid for by the National Health Service of Ukraine (NSAU), ”he said, emphasizing that the Affordable Medicines Program should be widened as possible.
Another reason for the inaccessibility of medication, according to Kovtonyuk, is that “most of the pharmacy sales are medicines that people should get while in hospitals but do not receive.”
“The latest study of the Health Index has shown that since the beginning of the reform, people have been paying less doctors and nurses, but they continue to pay for medicines. Although the NSAs says that the drug is included in the tariff for the service. This is a big problem that causes many distrust of reform (fairly), ”he said.
Kovtonyuk emphasized that “trying to regulate market prices (unless it is a violation of laws) is a waste of time.”
“It always makes only worse. The last attempt is to reduce VAT by medicines up to 7% (other products have 20%). It still works, and the drugs are not “cheaper”. Why in our pharmacy and in Polish the same preparation of the same manufacturer has a different price? To be the same price – you need to join the EU. To enter the EU, you need to develop the economy. To develop the economy, it is necessary to regulate the markets less and increase the programs of coating of medicines for the poor, ”Kovtonyuk said.
