“Dreadful” access to medicines

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“Dreadful” access to medicines – A topic not to be ignored

01.08.13

In an interview published last week, Paweł Sztwiertnia, Director General of Poland’s INFARMA – an EFPIA member company – discussed the state of the innovative pharmaceutical industry in Poland. I was particularly interested by his observation that access to innovative medicines in Poland, compared to countries with a similar GDP like Hungary and the Czech Republic, is the weakest. We’ve been hearing similar concerns about the unequal state of access to medicines in Europe for some time, as financial hardships have weakened public payers and healthcare infrastructures. In the Declaration on Access to Medicines published earlier this month, the situation in Europe was described as dreadful and appalling. Strong language – but many would say it is warranted. The link between public health and the health of economies has shown itself to be very strong – and it’s worrying. This is part of the reason EFPIA addressed the connection between health and economy at this year’s public conference, where we were lucky to have the input of Nobel-prize winning economist Paul Krugman. I don’t want that conversation to stop now. We have to continue talking about the topic if we are to remedy the situation – that’s the reason for my blog today.

The innovative pharmaceutical industry is responsible for developing new and improved treatments – but just as important is ensuring that patients actually get access to these new treatments. We are well aware of the widening gap in patient access to medicines in Europe. We know that several countries deliberately do not add new medicines to the reimbursement lists, simply in order to save money. We also know that the practice of referring to prices in other countries result in access delays. In my mind, it’s time to acknowledge that international price referencing should only be done to countries with a similar GDP/capita. In the long run European patients would benefit from more differential pricing in Europe: Companies are allowed to set different prices in different countries according to the ability to pay. It is simply unreasonable to expect all countries to pay the same – this has got to be acknowledged.

As always, collaboration can help us move forward. Improving patient access in Europe is a complex task and requires many stakeholders – governments, payers, industry, and more – to work together. This requires greater dialogue in all respects. Recognising this, EFPIA will be joining the European Public Health Alliance (EPHA) and the European Patients Forum (EPF) at the main health conference of the Lithuanian presidency. Is it specifically about access to medicines? No. But it’s another opportunity to engage with diverse stakeholders on topics related to European public health. And such opportunities should not be missed.

Richard Bergström was appointed as Director General of the European Federation of Pharmaceutical Industries and...