Organizations associating drug manufacturers, wholesalers and pharmacists asked Prime Minister Mateusz Morawiecki not to process the draft amendment to the Reimbursement Act as proposed by the Ministry of Health and to urgently start work on provisions related to ensuring drug safety and the stability of reimbursed trading drugs and medical devices, reported the Polish Association of Pharmaceutical Industry Employers (PZPPF).
The draft amendment to the Reimbursement Act, submitted for deliberation to the Standing Committee of the Council of Ministers, did not take into account the comments submitted a year earlier. According to the report on public consultations and the opinions of all stakeholders, the adoption of the regulation would contribute to an increase in the level of patients’ subsidies to reimbursed drugs and medical devices and to limiting their availability and would also threaten the continuity of trade in reimbursed products. Enterprises responsible for the production and distribution of drugs and medical devices critically assessed the proposals of the Ministry of Health, reminding them that without the drugs and medical devices for which they are responsible, health care will not function in Poland, PZPPF announced.
The authors of the appeal emphasize that they counted on the development of such changes in the act as part of the social dialogue, which would be beneficial for patients, built a stable drug market in Poland and created conditions for increasing pharmaceutical production in Poland. Considering the outbreak of the war in Ukraine, the unpredictability of the economic environment, drug shortages across the EU and the unprecedented challenge for public health related to the COVID-19 pandemic and the need to pay off the health debt – rational legislation in the area of strategic importance for state security becomes crucial.
The signatories of the appeal were the American Chamber of Commerce, the “Farmacja Polska” Chamber of Commerce, the Lewiatan Confederation, the Polish Chamber of Commerce for Medical Products POLMED, the Organization of Medical Industry Employers TECHNOMED, the Polish Chamber of Pharmaceutical Industry and Medical Devices POLFARMED, the Polish Association of Pharmaceutical Industry Employers – National Manufacturers of Medicines, Polish Union of Drug Manufacturers Without Prescription “PASMI”, Employers of the Republic of Poland, Employers’ Union of Innovative Pharmaceutical Companies INFARMA, Union of Entrepreneurs and Employers.
Source: PZPPF and ISBnews
