Pharmaceutical policies for controlling the demand and supply of medicinal products in the EU
Medical Review (Med. pregled), 2024, 60(4), 26-32.
Vekov1, G. Petrova2, Zh. Kolev1
1 MHAT Heart and Brain
2 MU – Varna
Abstract. The aim of the study is to analyze the pharmaceutical policies for control and management of the demand and supply of medicinal products implemented in EU member states. A literature review and document analysis of published data on pharmaceutical policies including prescription monitoring, generic prescribing, drug budgets, generic substitution, trade margins, tax incentives, and drug and patient cost sharing were performed. In the EU countries, a number of measures have been taken to improve the prescription model of drugs that are not used in the Bulgarian drug policy and are focused on the regulation of the demand and supply of medicinal products: 1) monitoring of doctor’s prescriptions; 2) generic prescribing; 3) drug budget for a doctor; 4) pharmaceutical generic substitution. These can be suitably combined with the existing policies of regressive schemes on the margins of the commercial chain and the sharing of drug costs with patients in order to successfully regulate and manage pharmaceutical costs in our country.
Key words: pharmaceutical policies, medicinal products, supply and demand, EU
Address for correspondence: Prof. Toni Vekov, PhD, DSc, e-mail: t.vekov.mu.pleven@abv.bg