The Association of Patients of Serbia is requesting a meeting with the Minister of Finance, the Minister of Health and the director of the RFZO in order to find a solution for putting innovative medicines on the positive list. What are innovative medicines?
Association patients Serbia sent a letter to Prime Minister Đura Matsut in which they request a meeting with the ministers of finance and health and the director of the Republic Health Insurance Fund (RFZO) in order to find a solution for placing innovative medicines to the positive list, which is waiting for about 200.000 patients, reports FoNet.
The President of the Association of Patients of Serbia, Savo Pilipović, said that they have two demands. "The first is that this year we have a new list of innovative drugs, and the second is to systematically solve the issue of procurement of those drugs, so that from next year we have a special budget line in RFZO that would guarantee that certain innovative therapy is procured every year or every other year, which would affect the necessary predictability."
Pilipović pointed out that it is necessary to discuss the criteria on the basis of which therapy is received, and not that therapy should be given to "the one who is the loudest".
The President of the Association of Lymphoma Patients, Lipa Maja Marković, said that some therapies for the treatment of lymphoma exist, and that 13 therapies are waiting to enter the list when it comes to hemato-oncology, out of a total of 77 drugs waiting to enter the list.
"What is characteristic of our diseases is that if the therapy is given on time, and if the patient responds positively to the initial therapy, the patient's life is practically saved," said Marković.
She added that in the countries where these therapies are available - Croatia, Slovenia, Bulgaria - mortality has decreased significantly.
Low budget allocations
President of the Association of Rheumatic Diseases of Serbia ORS Mirjana Lapčević pointed out that rheumatic diseases are neglected in society, even though 1,8 million people in Serbia suffer from some chronic rheumatic disease, and that 100.000 young people suffer from autoimmune arthritis.
"These diseases damage the joints and other organs, and if it is not detected in time and aggressive innovative therapy is not started, the lesions will be destroyed, other organs will be affected, and the person, depending on the disease in question, will be disabled within two to five years," said Lapčević.
The president of the Association of Patients with Senile Macular Degeneration "Yellow Spot", Aleksandra Hadži Manić, indicated that more than 70.000 patients suffer from these diseases. As she said, recently senile macular degeneration meant loss of vision, and with innovative drugs, the progression of the disease can be slowed or stopped.
"Although all the innovative drugs used in the world are registered and available in Serbia, the number of drugs that are on the positive list of the RFZO is zero", emphasized Hadži Manić, stating that only one percent of the total budget for drugs is allocated to ophthalmology.
According to the coordinator of the National Organization for Rare Diseases of Serbia, NORBS, Stefan Živković, there is no therapy for 95 percent of patients suffering from rare diseases.
Živković appealed to state institutions that it is necessary to have a sustainable and transparent way of introducing innovative therapies on a regular basis, where there would be clearly defined criteria for prioritization, based on the needs of patients and medical evidence.
What does innovative therapy mean?
The president of the Association of Manufacturers of Innovative Medicines "Inovia", Bojan Trkulja, previously told RTS that an innovative medicine does not mean that it is a new medicine, but in order for a medicine to receive the prestigious title of innovative, it has to be better in terms of its composition, or its formulation, and above all, in terms of its results, than what was the gold standard in the treatment of a disease until that moment.
All drugs that are on our market had to go through a long period of preclinical and clinical testing.
"Approximately, 12 years pass from the discovery in the laboratory to the moment when a drug actually becomes a drug and receives permission to be on the market. Considering that, unfortunately, most innovative drugs come from abroad and are not produced here, for each imported batch of innovative drug, one sample must be submitted for testing to our Medicines Agency", the president of the "Inovia" Association points out.
Source: FoNet/RTS
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