BRATISLAVA, June 13, (WEBNOVINY) — Slovak Prime Minister Iveta Radicova considers the letter she received from seven ambassadors dealing with the pharmaceuticals reform that the Cabinet adopted last week only to be a continuation of misguiding lobbying activities of large pharmaceutical companies. As the Cabinet Office’s press department informed SITA, the prime minister sent a reply to the ambassadors on Monday, in which she emphasized that the most important principle of both the criticized drafts is to dramatically increase transparency and responsibility in Slovak healthcare.
The aim of the reform is to curb prices of pharmaceuticals for the patients and to use the funds saved for increasing the quality of healthcare. After the reform is adopted, prices of pharmaceuticals could drop to second lowest level in the EU. The drafts also focus on curbing wasting of public funds, and reducing the risks of cronyism and of conflict of interest in regulation and prescribing pharmaceuticals.
“Without these changes, increasing availability of healthcare is not possible. Too much money gets lost in healthcare without bringing any benefits to the patients. The Slovak government will stop this wasting,” Radicova underlined. The drafts went through a standard legislative process; the Ministry of Health discussed them repeatedly with all relevant partners and accepted or partially accepted 838 remarks.
On Wednesday, June 8, ambassadors of eight countries sent Prime Minister Radicova a letter asking her to change the draft bill on pharmaceuticals and in the draft dealing with prices of medical drugs. As Radicova informed, ambassadors signed in the letter are from countries with strong pharmaceutical companies: Belgium, Denmark, France, Germany, U.S.A. and the United Kingdom. “I consider this to be pure lobbying. This goes beyond the framework of diplomacy and good manners in politics,” said Radicova after last week’s Cabinet session. According to her, the letter contained nothing specific except a request that the Cabinet accept the demands of pharmaceutical companies. Radicova said she considers it to be an attempt to infringe into transparency and into dealing with conflict of interests.
SITA
