Binakaj: Neighbors have 70 percent market share of medicines in BiH, while domestic companies have only 30

When the TK Government recently adopted a new model for drafting the essential list of medicines, it was impossible to predict how much dissatisfaction such a decision would cause. The background to such a decision is the protection of patients and domestic pharmaceutical companies. The new list will generate savings, restore already depleted health funds, and significantly reduce the foreign trade deficit, reports the Patria News Agency.

Ambassadors from Macedonia, Slovenia, and Croatia have reportedly announced their visit to the TK Government precisely because of this. Many Bosnians have characterized this as unacceptable pressure on their country.

Create a unified list of medicines

Primarius Zahida Binakaj, president of the Chamber of Pharmaceutical Technicians of the Federation, provides answers to these questions:

-We are asking for a unified essential list of medicines for BiH to be defined. This would ensure that every medicine is available under the same conditions to every resident of our country. Our second request is that this list have an INN, an International Nonproprietary Name, by which the composition of the active substance of the medicine is recognized, also known as the "generic name." This way, we would not favor any company, but would respect the recommendations of the World Health Organization and its essential list. Our third request is the implementation of the rulebook on medicine pricing for the entire country of Bosnia and Herzegovina.

This rulebook would set criteria for defining wholesale and retail prices of medicines for the BiH market and how these prices are controlled. By forming a unified essential list, citizens would benefit, and medicine would return to its original profession – pharmacy, explains Primarius Binakaj.

-Everyone wants to take a piece of the pie in the BiH medicine market. But in regulated relationships, there is no anger. We must be transparent because we are a complex and poor country, and all shortcomings in organization and the absence of a system are at the expense of patients, says Binakaj.

Domestic pharmaceutical companies are endangered

Protectionism is evident in the regional pharmaceutical industry. This means that someone protects their products in another country but does not allow the products of that country to be equal on their territory.

-Our disunity and lack of regulation are to blame for domestic producers being unable to register their medicines in neighboring countries, even in small numbers. At the same time, these countries easily register their medicines in BiH. I don't want to be misunderstood, but one only needs to state the percentage share of individual companies in the BiH market. So, the share of domestic medicine producers in their own market is not even 30 percent.

On the other hand, "Krka," "Lek," "Alkaloid," or other companies from neighboring countries have a market share of over 70 percent in the BiH medicine market. This percentage clearly shows that they are not endangered, but also that they are finding it difficult to accept the indications that the medicine market in BiH will finally and inevitably be regulated," says Zahida Binakaj.