Pharmaceutical market in the Republic of Croatia
Most European health systems are currently undergoing reforms.According to the World Health Organization, the aim of the healthsystem reforms are health gains, and one of the issues brought tothe foreground with respect to this is cost-containment. Availableindicators show that there is an irrationa...
| Main Authors: | , |
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| Format: | Article |
| Language: | English |
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Medical Association of Zenica-Doboj Canton
2008-02-01
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| Series: | Medicinski Glasnik |
| Subjects: | |
| Online Access: | http://www.ljkzedo.com.ba/medglasnik/vol51/M8_8.pdf |
| Summary: | Most European health systems are currently undergoing reforms.According to the World Health Organization, the aim of the healthsystem reforms are health gains, and one of the issues brought tothe foreground with respect to this is cost-containment. Availableindicators show that there is an irrational over-consumption ofmedicines. The paper aims to make a contribution towards rationalizingthe use of medicines through the application of a morerational pharmacotherapy, i.e. using the most recent achievementsof pharmacoeconomics.Rational pharmacotherapy implies using the right medicine in theright dosage, over a necessary time period, and at the lowest costfor both an individual and the community. The decrease of excessiveconsumption would result in a better operation of the medicinemarket, as the Croatian Health Insurance Institute would be able tomake more regular and more timely payments to pharmaceuticalwholesalers, which would improve business results of pharmaceuticalwholesalers, pharmacies, and factories (Belupo, Pliva-Barr).It is a well-known fact that the demand for drugs (and othergoods) is always higher than the actual payment ability. In mostcountries in the world the expenses for drugs grow faster thanGDP and make up 10-20% of total health care costs, i.e. 1-2%of GDP.The analyses conducted in the developed countries indicate thatthe increase in drug expenses is influenced mostly by the changes ofthe population’s demographic structure (aging of the population),chronic non-infectious diseases, and the dynamics of continuousintroduction of new and increasingly more expensive drugs. |
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| ISSN: | 1840-0132 1840-2445 |