INTERACTION WITH PATIENT ORGANIZATIONS IS CARRIED OUT ON AN ONGOING BASIS

On September 29, the Single Distributor of SK-Pharmacy LLP held a regular online meeting with patient organizations for various groups of diseases. The meeting was attended by representatives of 18 patient organizations.

The Chairman of the Board of the Single Distributor, having greeted the participants, noted that the principles of patient orientation and the issue of providing for each patient are priorities for the Single Distributor. The top priority is so called “hearing” healthcare. It is necessary to promptly and constructively respond to all requests from citizens, public organizations and patients. This has become a key component of the Single Distributor development strategy.

At the meeting, various issues of interaction between the state represented by the Single Distributor and civil society represented by patient organizations were discussed. Thus, an exchange of views took place on the systemic measures taken to improve drug supply, issues of quality and safety of medicines and interaction with the public. Representatives of public organizations spoke about their difficulties, wishes and suggestions.

The issue of drug provision for patients with orphan diseases was also discussed. To solve it, within the framework of the reboot program, the Single Distributor proposes to implement a record of the number of patients for collecting procurement applications, develop mechanisms for recognizing international certificates, simplify the registration procedure for orphan drugs and centralize the drugs procurement for all orphan diseases at the expense of the republican and local budgets.

At the same time, there are already a number of results in this direction. Amendments were made to the regulatory legal acts. Thus, the procurement rules provide for the procurement through international organizations of medicines for the treatment of orphan diseases that are not included in the List of the Single Distributor on behalf of the Ministry of Health of the Republic of Kazakhstan. A price offer has been received from UNICEF on the possibility of supplying 66 items of orphan drugs.

During the meeting, the issue of quality and safety of medicines and medical devices was actively discussed. At a meeting of the Government of the Republic of Kazakhstan on the development of the medical and pharmaceutical industry, it was noted that Kazakhstan should provide its citizens with high-quality medicines of its own production. Thus, domestic manufacturers need to focus on the composition of their products in terms of ensuring the transfer of advanced technologies, localizing the production of original, innovative drugs.

During the meeting, the report of the contact center of the Single Distributor was also heard. One of its important functions is feedback from the population and control over the receipt by patients of free medicines procured by the Single Distributor. It accumulates data from the population on supply disruptions, keeps a daily record and monitors incoming appeals and complaints. Information on medicines is provided to the population in the real time mode.

From the beginning of the year to September, the number of received calls exceeded 25,000. Of these, over 22 thousand - complaints and appeals on drug provision with the registration of a client card. Over 4 thousand were informational calls on the activities of the Single Distributor. The largest number of requests came from the capital – 4620, then on the list is East Kazakhstan region – 2499, the city of Almaty closes the top three – 2311. Most of the questions concerned diabetes mellitus.

In conclusion, the Head of the Single Distributor thanked everyone who prepared specific proposals, questions and noted that the opinion of public, and especially patient associations, is extremely important, which is necessarily taken into account when making certain management decisions. He expressed hope that the constant and productive cooperation that has already been established between public organizations and the Single Distributor will only strengthen and expand in the future.

“Your interest and deep practical knowledge of the subject help us identify the pressing problems of drug provision for the population. IknowthatallyourproposalswillbesubstantivelystudiedbytheSingleDistributor,” he noted.

Representatives of public associations noted positive developments in drug provision and the work of the Single Distributor in organizing interaction and solving problems of both public organizations in general and each individual patient.

At the same time, the participants of the meeting noted common approaches to improving the uninterrupted provision of the population with the necessary medicines. All proposals and appeals voiced by patient organizations following the meeting are included in the Register of Issues.