engleski

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 health system reforms are health gains, and one of the issues brought to the foreground with respect to this is cost-containment. Available indicators show that there is an irrational over-consumption of medicines. The paper aims to make a contribution towards rationalizing the use of medicines through the application of a more rational pharmacotherapy, i.e. using the most recent achievements of pharmacoeconomics. Rational pharmacotherapy implies using the right medicine in the right dosage, over a necessary time period, and at the lowest cost for both an individual and the community. The decrease of excessive consumption would result in a better operation of the medicine market, as the Croatian Health Insurance Institute would be able to make more regular and more timely payments to pharmaceutical wholesalers, which would improve business results of pharmaceutical wholesalers, pharmacies, and factories (Belupo, Pliva-Barr). It is a well-known fact that the demand for drugs (and other goods) is always higher than the actual payment ability. In most countries in the world the expenses for drugs grow faster than GDP and make up 10-20% of total health care costs, i.e. 1-2% of GDP. The analyses conducted in the developed countries indicate that the increase in drug expenses is influenced mostly by the changes of the population’ s demographic structure (aging of the population), chronic non-infectious diseases, and the dynamics of continuous introduction of new and increasingly more expensive drugs.

pharmaceutical market ; Republic of Croatia ; economics

nije evidentirano