Doctors talked about the shortage of medicines: they become more expensive and disappear

News about the shortage of certain drugs comes with enviable regularity. From the latter – in the afternoon with fire it is not possible to find several imported tranquilizers at once. A little earlier, patients with diabetes faced a shortage of a vital drug, and doctors say that their patients are experiencing serious difficulties with the availability of antibiotics, hormones, and anticancer drugs. In addition, experts report a significant increase in drug prices over the past year: according to Romir experts, they jumped by a third.

According to the analytical company RNC Pharma, the country’s supply of imported prescription tranquilizers has decreased. That is, drugs that are in great demand by the population today. First of all, this concerns the drugs Somnol and Imovan (their supplies fell by 7 and 3 times compared to last year, respectively), however, it is noted that the entire line of potent sedatives, including Zolomax, Relium, has undergone a reduction in supplies. , “Tazepam” and “Lorafen”. Due to the reduction in supplies, this group of drugs immediately found itself in short supply.

A short time ago, there was a shortage of drugs for diabetes mellitus – the prices of some of them have tripled. According to RNC Pharma estimates, the supply of imported drugs to Russia in October fell by 20% in physical terms, and over the 10 months of the year, the import of finished drugs as a whole decreased by 8.6% (bulk – by 30%).

The depth of the shortage is evidenced by data from a December survey conducted by one popular distance learning service for health workers among 1,843 doctors from all federal districts. The survey was conducted by anonymous testing.

Almost 80% (!) of doctors admitted that they are experiencing a shortage of drugs. Most often, respondents talk about the lack of antibiotics (including for children), insulin, drugs for the treatment of hormonal disorders, and oncological diseases.

Overall, more than half (57.7%) of those surveyed said there was “some shortage of drugs”; another 20.3% said “there is a serious shortage”. According to 21.9% of the respondents, “there are enough medicines”. By the way, a similar survey was conducted in June – then only 15% of respondents spoke of a serious shortage.

Among the most scarce, the doctors surveyed identified several groups of medicines. In the first place are antibacterial drugs (12.3% of doctors reported a shortage of them). On the second – hormonal agents (7.1% of respondents indicated them), on the third – insulin (7%). And another 5% of respondents noted a shortage of medicines for cancer patients. For comparison: in June, the top defects consisted of hormonal drugs, anticonvulsants, antiepileptics, antibiotics and insulin. “Problems in the healthcare system persist and on some issues the situation is getting a little worse. Alarming reports from doctors about the lack of antibiotics, hormonal drugs and insulin. All this suggests that the systemic issues of the industry have not been resolved and, it seems, they are not being given due attention now,” said Igor Stepanyukov, one of the initiators of the survey.

In the meantime, “Romir” reported that against the background of a reduction in the supply of imported drugs and a shortage in pharmacies, an increase in prices for drugs was noted. Based on a basket of 67 most popular drugs compiled by experts, prices increased by 29.4% over the year. Rosstat has different data – the increase in prices for medicines in November amounted to 10.2% compared to the same period last year. Experts see many reasons for rising prices: in addition to the reduction in supplies, this is the fall in Russian production (in October, according to Rosstat, Russian pharmaceutical plants reduced production by 8.5%), and the complexity (and, as a result, the rise in price) of the logistics of supplies as ready-made medicines and substances for their production. Recall that the lion’s share of Russian drugs is produced from substances that are not produced in our country.

However, as Sergey Shulyak, general director of the analytical agency DSM Group, told MK, the real increase in prices on the pharmaceutical market corresponds to official data and does not exceed 10%:

– We see general inflation in the pharmaceutical market at an average of 5%, but for drugs that are not included in the list of vital and essential (VED) – 10%. Vital and essential drugs show zero inflation, although they rose in price at a time of increased demand, but in October and November, demand fell – and their prices fell. I think there is still no 30% increase in drug prices. We use the traditional method of calculating the inflation index, and inflation in the pharmaceutical market is now lower than the national average (the latter is 10-12%).

– And what can be said about defects?

– There have always been defects in preparations, and they periodically occur. But there is no need to talk about the general absence of any positions. The situation is reminiscent of previous years, when something was missing during the period – due to changes in demand, delays in production, etc. Yes, today the situation is aggravated by logistical difficulties. Two months ago, Belarus began to introduce rules on transit, which had a negative impact on supplies. But it is impossible to say that medicines are leaving the market en masse.

– What about tranquilizers?

– The share of falling sales of foreign-made tranquilizers is very insignificant.

– Insulins with which periodically there are interruptions?

– Insulins are free-of-charge drugs, and if there are interruptions in them, this is a problem of procurement and distribution. No one restricted imports of insulin, and foreign manufacturers involved in public procurement produce insulin in the territory of the Russian Federation.

– What is the situation with the importation of substances?

– Most of the problems are solved. Yes, they are being transported with difficulty, through third, fourth and fifth countries, but they are being transported. And European components, and Chinese, and Indian. During the covid period, there were serious problems with their production and supply all over the world. The problem is multifaceted, it is caused not only by sanctions. In 2021, in India, due to the high incidence, entire chemical clusters were closed – there was no one to work. And the shortage of the antibiotic amoxiclav around the world was caused by difficulties with the production of the substance.

– What are your predictions?

– I’m optimistic. More than 90% of substances are supplied to us from India and China, there will be no problems. Even Western companies, which seem to be leaving the market, transfer the rights to manufacture medicines to subsidiaries, which calmly sell them to us. So the pharmaceutical market is unlikely to be shocked.