The Council for the Protection of Patients’ Rights and Safety warned of the risk of drug shortages
The introduction of manual regulation of medicine prices from March 1 may cause the closure of rural pharmacies and a general shortage of medicines. About this it is said in the appeal of the charity organization “All-Ukrainian Council for the Protection of Patients’ Rights and Safety”.
“Pharmacies will purchase only those drugs that they can guarantee to sell. The state now prohibits the manufacturer from compensating the minimum stock of drugs in the pharmacy, as well as guaranteeing the pharmacy the sale of new drugs. As a result of these ill-conceived actions, pharmacies will keep a smaller assortment of cheaper drugs and in smaller quantities.” – said in the statement.
According to the head of the organization Viktor Serdyuk, it will not be profitable for distributors to deliver medicines to rural pharmacies and frontline areas:
“After state regulation of prices, pharmacies and distributors will have to reduce their costs. Subsidized institutions will be the first to suffer, where it is expensive to deliver and where little is bought. That is, villages, rural communities, small towns.
That is why the All-Ukrainian Council for the Protection of Patients’ Rights calls for the introduction of a system of constant monitoring of the availability of medicines in order to level the risks and substantiate the necessary changes regarding the decision of the National Security Council, Law No. 11493, which was signed by the President today, and Cabinet Resolution No. 168.”.
