Health experts in Poland have issued recommendations to the government calling for specific measures to increase drug safety and boost domestic production.
Medicine safety encompasses the entire journey of pharmaceutical products, from production facilities to the hands of patients in pharmacies and hospitals.
This goes beyond just manufacturing medicines, as Ukasz Szmulski, director of the Department of Drug Policy and Pharmacy at the Ministry of Health, said in his opening speech to the debate on medicine safety at the 19th Healthcare Market Forum.
The forum saw a group of experts come together to develop recommendations to strengthen Poland’s pharmaceutical safety, suggestions aimed at the new Minister of Health to guide the country’s health strategy in the coming years.
Reshaping the industry
Szmulski pointed out that the current pharmaceutical law in Poland was instituted in 2001, but the changing economic landscape over the past 25 years has profoundly reshaped the pharmaceutical industry.
Regulations initially established under the Pharmaceutical Act no longer align perfectly with the rapidly changing economic environment, he said.
Furthermore, he highlighted that during this period, various models were implemented across Europe to restructure pharmaceutical distribution and trade.
These models present alternative approaches to solving medicine safety and accessibility issues, highlighting that adaptability is necessary to remain competitive and provide reliable access to medicines to Polish citizens.
Aneta Grzegorzewska, Director of Corporate Affairs and External Relations at Gedeon Richter Polska Sp. z oo z oo suggested that to ensure pharmaceutical safety in Poland, a paradigm shift is needed in the way healthcare system stakeholders perceive the process.
She explained that it is crucial to recognize that pharmaceutical safety goes beyond simply managing and responding to drug shortages.
This involves a complete reinvention of the entire pharmaceutical supply chain. She stressed that only by establishing this solid foundation can the system adequately ensure distribution and ensure consistent patient access to essential medicines.
One of the strategies to combat the shortage of medicines involved developing a list of critical active pharmaceutical ingredients (APIs) that should be manufactured in Poland to ensure the country’s pharmaceutical safety.
The current list includes more than 100 substances, including metformin, insulin, antibiotics and statins.
Safety nets
Barbara Misiewicz-Jagielak, Director of External Relations of Polpharma SA and Deputy Chairman of the Board of Directors of the Polish Association of Employers in the Pharmaceutical Industry – Domestic Drug Producers, emphasized that this list would serve as a safety net in case of border closures or similar. EMERGENCIES.
She said it is essential to understand that improving drug production requires more than just a list; it requires a wide range of tools and significant time investments.
We need to create a plan, a typical business plan, where we define the critical points, measure the objectives and systematically check how these points are implemented, she said.
Misiewicz-Jagielak highlighted several challenges facing drugmakers, such as high inflation, rising production costs and growing demand for certain active ingredients.
If Poland really wants to ensure pharmaceutical safety and boost domestic medicine production, these are the areas we need to address. To achieve this, we need to break down the walls between representatives of different stakeholders in the context of drug policy,” she added.
Szmulski pointed out that communication between drugmakers and the government, as a regulator, can be difficult. He emphasized that in many ways, each party involved pursues different interests.
Ultimately, all regulations are about patients and, after all, each of us is a patient from time to time. Perhaps adopting such a perspective in the discussions could facilitate the establishment of a satisfactory compromise, he summarized.
[By Paulina Mozolewska | Edited by Vasiliki Angouridi and Nathalie Weatherald, Euractiv.com]
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