[EQ] Testing Times in Russia: How to facilitate access to essential drugs and get more value out of pharmaceutical expenditures?

Testing Times in Russia:
How to facilitate access to essential drugs and get more value out of pharmaceutical expenditures?

The World Bank in Russia - Russian Economic Report
From Crisis to Recovery – June 2009

Available online as PDF file [30p] – see page 16 at:
http://siteresources.worldbank.org/INTRUSSIANFEDERATION/Resources/305499-1245838520910/rer19-eng.pdf

Website: http://go.worldbank.org/Z61KG4EK20

“…..This chapter assesses how the current economic downturn is affecting drug prices and the affordability of medicines, particularly among vulnerable population groups. A related question concerns possible measures that could be adopted in Russia to facilitate access to essential drugs and ensure rational drug use. The chapter focuses on special issues of affordability and access.

It also suggests the need for assessing the regulatory role of government in different areas of the pharmaceutical market. Such an assessment would provide policymakers, insurance providers, and healthcare institutions with an analysis of regulation’s impact on efficiency, quality, equity, and cost control….”

This chapter was prepared by Patricio V. Marquez, Lead Health Specialist, Europe and Central Asia, World Bank, and Mikhail Bonch-Osmolovskiy, Economist, ECSPE, World Bank, in consultation and with the advice from the following international pharmaceutical specialists: Albert Figueras, Catalan Pharmacological Institute, Barcelona, Spain; Rob Verhage and Wilbert Bannenberg, Health Research for Action (HERA), Suriname and the Netherlands; Martin Auton, Health Action International (HAI), Amsterdam, the Netherlands; Kalipso Chalkidou, National Institute of Health and Clinical Excellence (NICE), London, England; as well as Igor Sheiman, Professor of Health Economics, Higher School of Economics, Moscow, Russia. Additional comments were provided by Andrei Markov, Senior Human Development Specialist; Salman Zaidi, Senior Economist, ECSPE; Willy de Geynd, Lead Health Specialist (ret.); and Sevil Kamalovna Salakhutdinova, Health Specialist, World Bank




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