Access to Affordable Medicines: A Persistent Challenge for Europe
Kate Williamson, Editorial Team, Pharma Focus Europe
High accessibility to medicines is still a concern in Europe due to increasing costs and variability in price per country and a lack of legislation to mitigate the problem. The problem of high prices impacts a healthcare system and limits patients’ access to treatment. They are generic medicines promote, starker pricing talks, and increased regional collaboration for permanent, non-discriminatory access to key medicines for each and every European.
Introduction:
The problem of affordable medicines has been topical in Europe for many years. Despite the fact that, there are well developed health units in many regions of the world and particularly in this continent, the health challenges of the population have not been fully met especially in access to affordable basic medicines. This problem is relevant not only to the patients, but also to the stability of health care systems. Price of medicines are increasing and while many cultures of Europe have free access to health care, it is not equally possible to access all the treatments. This article briefly looks at why this is so, the implication for health care in Europe and what needs to be done to make medicines available at reasonable prices to all Europeans.
The Rising Cost of Medicines
High cost of medicines has been cited as one of the primary causes for the high cost of medicines in Europe, and hence there is limited access to affordable medicines.
It is organizations running the pharmaceutical firms that determine the price of the medication; sometimes the prices are relatively high, especially where the medications new, and with the advancement in technology. For example, most of cancer treatments, biological therapies and special kinds of medicine cost tens of thousands of euros per patient.
These high prices are hard to explain in most of the health care organizations which working with restricted financial resources. But if European Union countries have a way to negotiate the price of medicines, the manufacturers will not budge saying that the cost of the research in coming up with new drugs has to be on the table. This becomes a challenge for governments to make an attempt to provide their citizens with the required medical toils without draining the national health care systems.
Higher costs also result in what is known in the modern world as “medicine shortage.” Too high price frequently leads to shortages of the given treatment because providers are simply unable to prescribe medications during the periods patients need them. This is not only the economic problem but also the question of health of people.
Variations in Access across Europe
The consumption of good and affordable medicines in Europe is quite unequal. Despite the fact that the European Union endeavors to provide a coordinated approach to health care, the actual situation resembles more complicated. Common EU countries for example Germany, France and the UK usually have much better health care systems and access to drugs. These nations also enjoy better negotiating power especially when it comes to the determination of prices for medicines by production companies.
However the affordability problems are found more often in such countries as those of the Eastern and Southern Europe. Nations like Romania, Bulgaria and Greece are comparatively endowed with less capability in the actual bargaining of the drug prices. As such, it means that patients in such nations may receive different treatments as those offered in the developed countries in the world.
This raises inequality in access to health care in Europe because some citizens cannot access some basic medicines they need while these same medicines may be available in other countries nearby.
The Role of Generic Medicines
Among the most effective measures to address the problem of the expensive medicines for the Europeans, one needs to mention the widespread application of generics. In the case of brand name drugs, the companies with the patents have permission to produce them and market them and when the patent expires other companies can come and replicate that drug also called generics. These generics come into the market at quite a lower price than the first coined branded drug hence it is cheaper to the patients.
Today, many countries of Europe use generics as the primary means of decreasing the costs of healthcare. Nevertheless, the use of generics is not general across the globe. There are countries with high level of generic use and those that have difficulties to promote it. Patients and doctors may have a perception of poor efficacy or quality of generics when in fact research has found that they are as efficacious as innovator drugs. Eliminating these perceptions and raising awareness about the availability of generic medicines are the questions that should be solved to achieve appropriate availability of the drugs.
The Impact of Medicine Pricing on Health Systems
The pricing of the medicines is very high and this is in addition has a great burden to health systems especially those of the developed world or countries with aging and increasing prevalence of chronic diseases. With the tremendous array of medicines available, health systems are frequently left with hard choices as to which medicines to include in their National Health Programs. Such can result into restricted availability of such treatments or total omission of certain drugs even when they are relevant in the treatment of patients.
The economic consequences of this are also not left to the patients themselves. Full reimbursement for medication may not be provided in some countries meaning people may have to expense treatment on their own. To many patients this is tantamount to paying for either the needed medicine or other essentials such as food and shelter.
This problem is even more worrying for the members of vulnerable population, including the elderly and those with disabilities, low-income families.
The Role of the European Union
On the same subject of access to affordable medicines the European Union has certain responsibilities to fulfill. Therefore through headquarters like the European Medicines Agency (EMA) the EU is helpful in guaranteeing safety and efficacy of the drugs in circulation. However, the EU’s prerogative in controlling the prices of drugs is small sized at most. Healthcare and drug prices are fully determined and implemented by every specific member state of the union.
Tertiary care explains why there has been efforts to ensure there is some level of congruity in regulations between the different countries in the EU, but the disparity in prices and access has remained rife. Such a system shown above has been proposed to include a single approach to the drug pricing regulation in EU. This could include bilateral bargaining on prices of the medicines or the formulation of better organizational price structure that would allow any European citizen the required access.
The other major concern is the regulation governing the pharmaceutical industry. The EU has been accused of letting large pharmaceutical firms continue to monopolize particular forms of drugs hence restricting competition to ensure high prices. Other measures that might raise competition could also lower costs for example by permitting the importation of medicines from countries with lower prices, or expediting the approval of generics.
Patient Advocacy and Public Awareness
One way through which patient advocacy groups are involved in augmenting awareness of the problem of medicine price is through advocacy. Among these are organization that seek to advocate for the patient because when it comes to policy making regarding drug price the patient is not usually given an avenue to be heard. In addition, they help those who face problems with prescription costs, explain how to fill out applications for different organizations or hospitals, where one can get financial support.
This means that the common views in the community can also be educated towards the cost of medicines through information sharing campaigns. Thus, these sorts of campaigns may raise awareness both among the healthcare providers and the general public that assisted several generations of people will afford drugs and may help create a conducive environment concerning policy changes.
Potential Solutions to the Access Problem
Consequently, there are several possible strategies to address the problem of an insufficient availability of affordable medicines in Europe. Some of these solutions include:
- Price Negotiations: One way that the member countries of Europe could enhance their ability to make better negotiating offers when it comes to prices of drugs include. In the end, countries would be able to get better prices for medicines that would be cheap for any EU citizen.
- Greater Use of Generic Drugs: More labour can be involved in the use of a brand drug, the promotion of use of generic drugs also reduces the cost of treatment. This could be achieved via phases of education, modification of doctors’ prescription patterns and proper availability of generics.
- Innovation and Research Funding: The society needs more investment in public sector for research and development so that new medicine can be developed in a bid to make them really effective at a small cost. Europe could minimize its dependence on costly drugs developed by private research-based firms by funding research in areas that are still uncharted.
- Regulating Pharmaceutical Prices: European countries could tighten laws to monitor the price of the life-saving drugs. This could require formal controls such as price controls on expensive medicines or could require firms to justify their pricing determinations.
- Cross-Border Cooperation: European countries could consider how best to cooperate so that they could, for instance, coordinate in the procurement of medical supplies and therefore get better prices on medicine. This could also mean joint work on research, production and delivery of drugs so that every nation could have the best treatment it needs.
Conclusion
Access to affordable medicines remains a challenge in Europe. It is quite shocking that many people in Europe, some of the most developed countries where healthcare has been upgraded to near perfection are actually struggling to afford their drugs. This is due to increased costs of drugs, access differences from country to country and the EU’s relative inefficiencies to regulate such prices.
Nevertheless, using more of generic medicines, enhancing cooperation with other countries, and adopting higher degrees of price controls as measures will help Europe create worthwhile progresses toward guaranteeing that all citizens who require medicines for leading healthy lives, have those medicines. The matter at question cannot be resolved simply save the lives of people and improve human health, rather, it is a question of justice.
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Kate, Editorial Team at Pharma Focus Europe, leverages her extensive background in pharmaceutical communication to craft insightful and accessible content. With a passion for translating complex pharmaceutical concepts, Kate contributes to the team's mission of delivering up-to-date and impactful information to the global Pharmaceutical community.
