Bulgarians pay more for medicines, despite low prices

18:05 Mon 07 Apr 2008 - Elitsa Savova

Bulgarians pay the most for medicines, compared with any other citizens of European Union member countries, although prices in Bulgaria were among the lowest in the bloc, data from the Statistical Office of the European Communities (Eurostat) showed.

The main reason for the imbalance was the fact that Bulgaria was the only EU member state, the government paid less than half the price of the of prescription medicines, Deyan Denev, chair of the Association of Research-based Pharmaceutical Manufacturers in Bulgaria, who presented the study on April 5, said.

Public institutions in Bulgaria covered only 44 per cent of the price of medicines, while in Romania the state was paying 54 per cent, in Slovenia the proportion was 69 per cent and in Greece - 85 per cent. Medicines in Bulgaria were taxed with the highest value added tax (VAT), 20 per cent, Dnevnik daily said.

At the same time, the state was trying to artificially decrease the prices of the medicines, forcing producers and importers to maintain the lowest prices, compared to eight other EU members selected as reference. Even with the 20 per cent VAT, the prices in Bulgaria reached 72 per cent of the EU average.

Due to over-regulation, members of the association said that they would stop importing more than 220 medicines. The market in Bulgaria was too small and companies had no interest to import these medicines at low prices. The medicines in question are used to treat AIDS, cancer, cardiac, neurologic and respiratory diseases, among others.

Another problem was the delay in the registration of new drugs. Thus, some 60 per cent of new medicines, which would appear on the EU market in 2008 and 2009 would not reach Bulgaria.

Bulgaria’s policy harmed the interests of both producers and patients, Denev said. As a result, part of the patients remained without treatment and the National Health Insurance Fund was forced to limit the number of patients treated under various programmes.

According to Denev, the state should decrease the VAT on medicines and pay a major part of their prices to provide patients with new drugs.

The problem with high VAT on medicines has been discussed for several years already, Dnevnik said. A second consecutive Cabinet avoided slashing because of the problems such a decrease would cause to the revenue administration.