In Kazakhstan, the issue of accessibility of medicines provided at the expense of budget funds for the population is once again being actively discussed. The topic is not new: Kazakhstanis regularly complain to authorities and the media about problems with obtaining prescriptions for necessary drugs, writes the Monitoring Agency Energyprom.kz.
The reason for the news in April of this year was a request from the member of the Senate of the Parliament of the Republic of Kazakhstan Ainur Argynbekova. In her letter to the government, the senator writes that "despite all the measures taken by the Ministry of Health, it is not possible to avoid interruptions in the supply of medicines." There are gaps in the work at all stages: hospitals cannot submit applications for purchases in the required volume on time, the tender system itself does not allow for the stability of deliveries on time.
“Considering the long-standing problem of drug shortages in all regions at the beginning and end of the calendar year, both at the outpatient and inpatient levels, we understand that the problem is systemic, both in the Ministry of Health, SK-Pharmacia LLC, and at the level of local medical organizations,” the deputy believes.
The sole distributor, SK-Pharmacia LLC, acknowledges the existence of several voiced barriers and risks. In their report for the first half of 2024, experts report a weak level of automation of business processes in the company. Among the problems named are underfunding of the healthcare system, rising prices for logistics services, and the lack of a unified planning methodology.
Meanwhile, funding for purchases of pharmaceuticals and drugs by the Single Distributor is growing every year. For example, last year the amount of funds allocated from the budget and the Compulsory Medical Insurance Fund (CMIF) reached record levels in recent years: 479.9 billion tenge. This is 9.8% more than in 2023, and 2.4 times more than five years earlier.
The paradox of discrepancy is primarily due to the fact that the Ministry of Health of the Republic of Kazakhstan and the Mandatory Medical Insurance Fund are increasing purchases, but the supply system itself is so shaky and unstable that the result does not meet the expectations of patients. More precisely, as the deputy writes, "there is no result, since there are no drugs." And often such complaints come from patients who cannot wait until the tender is held and the drugs are delivered. We are talking about patients with diabetes, epilepsy, cancer.
According to data from reports of SK-Pharmacia LLC, in the first half of 2024 alone, the distributor's contact center recorded 33.4 thousand complaints and requests regarding drug supply issues - 38.7% more than in the same period of 2023. Most often, patients complained about diabetes (plus 43.4% per year), hypertension (plus 15.8%), epilepsy (2 times more).
For the sake of objectivity, let's compare the numbers. There are more than 380 thousand people with diabetes in Kazakhstan, and the number of complaints from such patients amounted to 8 thousand. At first glance, the share is small, only 2%, but in absolute terms, the number of Kazakhstanis who were unable to receive their vital insulin on time or had problems obtaining other medications is simply enormous.
In her request, the member of the Senate of the Parliament of the Republic of Kazakhstan drew attention to plans to introduce the so-called threshold of state willingness to pay for expensive drugs for certain categories of patients, usually with rare diseases. This means that the budget will be ready to pay only part of the costs of purchasing expensive drugs for patients with orphan diseases, and the remaining costs, according to the idea, will be covered by charitable foundations. The proposal is argued by the fact that drugs for rare diseases require several times more money than for patients with the most common diseases.
For example, 4 billion tenge was spent on purchasing medicines for 75 Kazakhstanis with mucopolysaccharidosis in the first half of 2024, that is, 53.4 million tenge per person. The number of patients with ischemic heart disease in Kazakhstan is 388.6 thousand people, the treatment of each of them costs 6.3 thousand tenge. There are almost 1 million Kazakhstanis with arterial hypertension in the country who require free medicines, the treatment of each is estimated at 7.5 thousand tenge. And it is from patients from these categories that complaints about problems with drug supply most often come.
The final decision on this issue has not been officially announced in the media, but funding for the treatment of patients with orphan diseases from the Kazakhstan Halkyna charity foundation has already begun.
Источник: Казахстанский Фармацевтический Вестник, pharmnews.kz
The reason for the news in April of this year was a request from the member of the Senate of the Parliament of the Republic of Kazakhstan Ainur Argynbekova. In her letter to the government, the senator writes that "despite all the measures taken by the Ministry of Health, it is not possible to avoid interruptions in the supply of medicines." There are gaps in the work at all stages: hospitals cannot submit applications for purchases in the required volume on time, the tender system itself does not allow for the stability of deliveries on time.
“Considering the long-standing problem of drug shortages in all regions at the beginning and end of the calendar year, both at the outpatient and inpatient levels, we understand that the problem is systemic, both in the Ministry of Health, SK-Pharmacia LLC, and at the level of local medical organizations,” the deputy believes.
The sole distributor, SK-Pharmacia LLC, acknowledges the existence of several voiced barriers and risks. In their report for the first half of 2024, experts report a weak level of automation of business processes in the company. Among the problems named are underfunding of the healthcare system, rising prices for logistics services, and the lack of a unified planning methodology.
Meanwhile, funding for purchases of pharmaceuticals and drugs by the Single Distributor is growing every year. For example, last year the amount of funds allocated from the budget and the Compulsory Medical Insurance Fund (CMIF) reached record levels in recent years: 479.9 billion tenge. This is 9.8% more than in 2023, and 2.4 times more than five years earlier.
The paradox of discrepancy is primarily due to the fact that the Ministry of Health of the Republic of Kazakhstan and the Mandatory Medical Insurance Fund are increasing purchases, but the supply system itself is so shaky and unstable that the result does not meet the expectations of patients. More precisely, as the deputy writes, "there is no result, since there are no drugs." And often such complaints come from patients who cannot wait until the tender is held and the drugs are delivered. We are talking about patients with diabetes, epilepsy, cancer.
According to data from reports of SK-Pharmacia LLC, in the first half of 2024 alone, the distributor's contact center recorded 33.4 thousand complaints and requests regarding drug supply issues - 38.7% more than in the same period of 2023. Most often, patients complained about diabetes (plus 43.4% per year), hypertension (plus 15.8%), epilepsy (2 times more).
For the sake of objectivity, let's compare the numbers. There are more than 380 thousand people with diabetes in Kazakhstan, and the number of complaints from such patients amounted to 8 thousand. At first glance, the share is small, only 2%, but in absolute terms, the number of Kazakhstanis who were unable to receive their vital insulin on time or had problems obtaining other medications is simply enormous.
In her request, the member of the Senate of the Parliament of the Republic of Kazakhstan drew attention to plans to introduce the so-called threshold of state willingness to pay for expensive drugs for certain categories of patients, usually with rare diseases. This means that the budget will be ready to pay only part of the costs of purchasing expensive drugs for patients with orphan diseases, and the remaining costs, according to the idea, will be covered by charitable foundations. The proposal is argued by the fact that drugs for rare diseases require several times more money than for patients with the most common diseases.
For example, 4 billion tenge was spent on purchasing medicines for 75 Kazakhstanis with mucopolysaccharidosis in the first half of 2024, that is, 53.4 million tenge per person. The number of patients with ischemic heart disease in Kazakhstan is 388.6 thousand people, the treatment of each of them costs 6.3 thousand tenge. There are almost 1 million Kazakhstanis with arterial hypertension in the country who require free medicines, the treatment of each is estimated at 7.5 thousand tenge. And it is from patients from these categories that complaints about problems with drug supply most often come.
The final decision on this issue has not been officially announced in the media, but funding for the treatment of patients with orphan diseases from the Kazakhstan Halkyna charity foundation has already begun.
Источник: Казахстанский Фармацевтический Вестник, pharmnews.kz
