In an open letter sent to the Ministry of Health, Latvian healthcare, medical, patient, pharmaceutical and safety organizations invite the ministry and other institutions to immediately start working on the creation of a state medication reserve fund.
Organisations invite institutions to start working on creating strategic reserves of various medicines. They also say they are prepared to participate in the creation of the system.
“The existing medicines supply system is enough to effectively cover everyday needs. However, in the event of various threats and crises, there are high risks of patients suffering from chronic diseases potentially ending up without medicines,” the organisations stress.
Latvian National Drug Supply Association’s board member Jānis Lībķens stresses that the Covid-19 pandemic and the war in Ukraine that followed after it showed just how vulnerable Latvia is when it comes to the supplies of medicines. The main reason for this, according to him, is the high dependence on imports.
“Currently 94% of Latvia’s medicine market is composed of imports. This is why there is a high risk of our residents simply ending up without medicines in the even of supply chain disruptions. This is why we and other organisations invite the government to not way for another crisis, but instead start working together to create an effective solution and reserves of medicines to make sure medicines remain available to chronic patients in any situation,” said Lībķens.
He referenced Estonia’s experience, which has already started creating state medical reserves. In February, Estonia also made the decision to start making reserves of veterinary medicines.
Authors of the letter also stress that the period of unavailability of medicines in other countries has lasted up to 130 days in the last five years,
mainly in the neurological and cardiovascular diseases group. This can not only affect patients in need of constant medicine therapy, but can also increase healthcare costs.
President of Latvian Medical Association Ilze Aizsilniece believes that in a crisis situation medicines should be available not only in hospitals, but also outpatient care, especially for patients suffering from chronic illnesses. She also said that medical workers and pharmacists have a right to now how medical supplies would be handled in a crisis situation and which would be priority groups.
Latvian Patient Organisations Network’s (LPOT) board chairperson Baiba Ziemele agrees with Aizsilniece, adding that LPOT currently unites more than 30 Latvian patient organisations that represents people with cardiovascular, endocrine, oncological, neuromuscular, rare diseases, HIV and viral hepatitis, rheumatological, autoimmune and other diseases.
“The country needs to be able to provide patients uninterrupted access to medicines. This is why there needs to be a system for the supply of medicines in Latvia in crisis situations. Although medicines are usually goods the availability of which needs to be maintained even during a war, which is also insisted upon by international organisations, we cannot rely on humanitarian aid. We need to do our own homework and take responsibility for people’s lives,” stresses Ziemele.
Authors of the letter also say that the European Commission and European Medicines Agency have approved the list of critically important medicines. Latvian manufacturers are already hard at work, studying this list to check which medicines are already manufactured in Latvia and which should become another priority to make sure the country does not end up in a difficult situation if international supplies are disrupted.
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