Access to drugs in the Newly Independent States : towards sharing the patient's burden : report on a WHO seminar, London, United Kingdom 13-14 October 1997

Abstract

The WHO Regional Office for Europe organized a Seminar for the newly independent states (NIS) to analyse the increased cost of pharmaceuticals to patients and the effect of this on access to health care and to discuss successes and failures in the various countries. The aims of the seminar were to develop strategies and programmes aimed at providing political awareness of this problem, to suggest new approaches and concepts and to make policy-makers as well as government officials aware of the effect of their decisions on the accessibility, and especially the affordability, of health care and drug treatment for the entire population. The Seminar was attended by deputy ministers of health responsible for pharmaceuticals and heads of drug regulatory agencies. The Seminar provided an overview and basic information from the NIS on the role of national authorities, hospital managers, physicians and pharmacists in improving access to drugs in hospitals and primary health care. The Seminar provided participants with different mechanisms to increase access, such as improving methods of procurement, drug selection and prescribing, budgeting, drug reimbursement and regulatory measures. Examples of successful initiatives and approaches in different NIS were presented and discussed. As a result of the Seminar, the participants became more aware of the serious consequences of the declining affordability of drugs on the access to health care and its effect on the health of the population. The complex and political character of the problem is an additional hurdle in finding sustainable solutions. Practical and feasible recommendations were given, and the implementation of these recommendations at country and intercountry level will be followed up with the assistance of the pharmaceuticals programme