“Investigating” high cost of medicaments

All receipts given from April to June will be inspected, and after it will be over, Ilir Beqja will publish the names of doctors so that each one can be held responsible.

“We will have to fix the rules for receipts, make them similar to more successful protocols of other countries. We will monitor the treatment chain from the family doctor to pharmacies. The main goal is to improve our service. We will buy more medicaments, make more disbursements and make it possible for the citizens to have them cheaper. When we will verify abuses, those who are responsible will be held responsible, even with criminal prosecution”, Beqja declared.

As for the World Bank report which underlines that Albanians pay more for medicine than other countries in the region and the EU, Minister Beqja declared that they will keep in consideration all recommendations of the World Bank, starting from the price negotiations and to the reimbursement details, amends that will be presented in the new law of medicaments that will be approved within July.

“We have the medicament law under approval and I think it will be concluded by July. The most important part of this is the decision for the negotiation method of pharmacies with wholesale companies; the decision for changing the list of reimbursement medicaments, and establishing rules for making generic medicaments cheaper than the patented ones, because we are the only country with a higher price for that”, Beqja declared.

The Health Minister declared that the effect for reducing the medicaments started with the removed VAT, and that the changes made with the new law, like encouraging competition, will bring cheaper medicaments in the open market, in the reimbursement list and those for hospital use.

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