CIS EXPERTS DISCUSSED CURRENT ISSUES IN MEDICINE PROVISION

Today, the capital hosted the III international conference in the format of a public expert session “Efficacy and accessibility of medicines: from technology and evidence base to the patient.”

  Representatives of the parliaments of the CIS member states, the Expert Council on Health Care at the IPA CIS, industry international organizations and the academic community took part in the event. The experts include specialists from relevant ministries and departments of the Commonwealth states, national academies of sciences, medical organizations, insurance and pharmaceutical companies, patient communities and professional non-profit organizations.

  The purpose of the conference was to discuss the key aspects of the development and implementation of the model law “On drug provision in the CIS member states”, provided for by the long-term plan for model legislation for 2023–2025. This law aims to harmonize approaches to drug provision in the CIS countries, taking into account their unique socio-economic conditions and healthcare needs.

  The importance of the conference is emphasized by a number of special expert sessions aimed at discussing and presenting the opinions of national expert communities. The results of the dialogue platforms will make it possible to include in the content of the model law the most important and relevant proposals and recommendations that reflect the interests and needs of all participants in the process.

At the established dialogue platforms, in addition to the development of model methodological recommendations that form the basis for the creation and development of national evidence bases in the healthcare of the CIS member states, all topical issues of drug provision were raised.

At one of the expert sessions, the head of the Unified Distributor SK-Pharmacia, Erkhat Iskaliev, spoke about the unified distribution system as a participant in the global pharmaceutical market.

First of all, we talked about per capita spending in the CIS countries, the leader among which is Russia with an indicator of $172 per capita. Next on the list is Belarus with $112 per capita. In Kazakhstan this figure is $108. The list is completed by Uzbekistan ($44) and Kyrgyzstan ($34).

According to analytical companies, the overall pharmaceutical market of the CIS countries will grow by 12-14% by 2025. Today, the pharmaceutical market of our republic is estimated at 2.1 billion US dollars. Kazakhstan occupies a leading position with positive growth dynamics in the cumulative average annual growth rate for 2020-2023 of 11%.

Positive dynamics are also observed in the volume of purchases through the Unified Distributor, which in monetary terms increased 14 times, and the number of items - 2.2 times. Thanks to centralized procurement of medicines, more than 2 thousand medical organizations and more than 2 million patients are provided.

As a result of price leveling and reduction, total budget savings amounted to 214.4 billion tenge, which made it possible to use the saved funds for additional purchases. Participants were also introduced to the logistics system of the Unified Distributor, which includes four distribution centers (HUBs) in Astana, Almaty, Shymkent and Aktobe.

Particular emphasis during the report was placed on achieving the share of purchases from domestic producers to 50% by 2025, which was ordered by the Head of State. It is advisable to achieve the goal by creating R&D centers, a logistics pharmaceutical hub, full-cycle production conditions with an emphasis on the production of original drugs, a strategy with BigPharma and global medical equipment vendors, and export promotion, including consulting, service support, acceleration and an educational program.

“The purpose of our policy is to provide the population with affordable and high-quality medicines. We are actively working on modernizing production facilities, introducing innovative technologies and localizing the production of foreign drugs on the basis of Kazakhstani enterprises. This will allow us not only to satisfy domestic demand, but also to strengthen the export potential of our products,” noted Erkhat Iskaliev.

Over the past few years, the Unified Distributor has been carrying out comprehensive work to attract investments and global industry players to the Kazakh market. Cooperation has been developed with a number of companies from South Korea, China, Belgium, the Netherlands and other countries. A breakthrough result was the conclusion of long-term agreements for the contract production of original innovative drugs with pharmaceutical giants Pfizer and Roche.

During the speech, the need for the development of information technology was voiced - complete digitalization of planning processes, procurement procedures, medicine logistics and monitoring of their implementation using generally accepted IT solutions from leaders in the logistics industry.

In addition, the introduction of pharmacy management principles has been proposed. The audience was presented with an integrated approach to supply and order management in the pharmaceutical sector, aimed at improving efficiency and quality of patient care.

After all the presentations were completed, the experts summed up the results of the entire event and identified priority areas of work in the near future. Representatives of the CIS countries expressed their support and noted the importance of interstate cooperation in the field of healthcare. The development and implementation of a unified approach to drug provision will help improve the quality and accessibility of medical care for the population of the CIS countries.

It is worth noting that the previous two expert sessions were held in 2023 in Belarus and Kyrgyzstan. The IV expert session is scheduled to take place in November 2024 in Uzbekistan.