Prices for medicines will not increase in the near future.
According to the government, Dragos Gutu, Director of the Agency for Medicines and Medical Devices, said this, noting that the agency managed to ensure price stability for medicines, as well as maintain a large amount of reimbursed medicines. He assured that, thanks to the mechanism of state regulation of drug prices, price increases are not expected in the near future. At the same time, in order to avoid the risk of a shortage of pharmaceutical products in the country, if necessary, an instrument of unauthorized import can be applied. Dragos Gutu also stressed that if we analyze the structure of drugs, the prices of which have increased or decreased, we will find that over-the-counter drugs, which are not vital and are not compensated by the state, have risen in price, and the prices of compensated drugs prescribed for treatment of chronic pathologies, remained at the same level or even decreased. Herewith, even the existing price adjustments are much lower than the inflation rate. In addition, Dragos Gutu noticed that some citizens confuse prescription drugs with dietary supplements (for example, cough syrups or certain vitamins). Dietary supplements are administered by the National Public Health Agency and are not regulated by the Medicines Act. Dragos Gutu also said that the reason for the increase in prices for some medicines, with the exception of dietary supplements, is that a number of medicines enter the market through unauthorized imports, and in this case, prices are not subject to state control. The second reason is difficulties with imports from China and India due to the war in Ukraine. Products from these countries are now delivered to Moldova through the ports of Romania, Greece and Istanbul, which affects the logistics costs and the final cost of drugs. In addition, Ukraine has always been an important supplier of medicines to the Moldovan market, thanks to more than 100 pharmaceutical manufacturers. According to Dragos Gutu, the first two weeks after the start of the war were the most critical, now exports have resumed by 80-90%. In order to facilitate the import of medicines from Ukraine to Moldova, our country began to accept packages with inscriptions in Ukrainian (during the state of emergency). Dragos Gutu emphasized that when the agency starts a new round of price revisions, there will most likely be some adjustments that will include force majeure costs, but they will certainly be below inflation. However, he did not disclose the timing of the revision of drug prices. It is noted that in Moldova the prices for medicines are lower than in all CIS countries. According to the press service of the government, 4,059 pharmaceuticals are currently registered in Moldova. Over the past 9 months, the Agency for Medicines and Medical Devices has revised prices for 3,000 drugs. The cost of about 60% of essential drugs remained at the level of last year, and 163 international items are included in the list of reimbursed drugs. The share of compensation for the price of medicines is 60-100%. // 29.07.2022 — InfoMarket
