Tashkent, Uzbekistan (UzDaily.com) — The tragedy of the death of children after taking the Doc-1 Max drug, which deeply saddened the whole society, showed that a number of problems remain in the healthcare and pharmaceutical sectors in the country. The nationwide movement “Yuksalish” believes that only an integrated approach and the involvement of all stakeholders will prevent the occurrence of such situations in the future.
What should be done?
First of all, Yuksalish believes that it is necessary to reconsider the situation with the uncontrolled use of drugs.
Because citizens more often consult with a pharmacist what medicine to take in a given situation, and not with a doctor. The easy availability of a wide range of medicines without a doctor’s prescription creates the risk of inappropriate use of medicines.
Studies around the world show that, on average, 10-20 percent of hospitalized patients experience side effects, with rates twice as high in developing countries.
Please note that in 2008-2018, 2300 applications were registered in Uzbekistan in connection with the deterioration of health from self-medication with medicines.
Yuksalish believes that, firstly, it is necessary to ban direct advertising of medicines in the media. Similar practice exists in international practice. In particular, advertise medicines only with the permission of the Committee for the Development of Competition and Consumer Rights Protection. In the future, consider banning direct drug advertising in the media. Consider the experience of Turkey, Switzerland, Canada and other countries in this direction.
According to the WHO, drug advertising contributes to an increase in the level of uncontrolled use of drugs and self-medication. Self-medication ranks fifth in terms of mortality, behind injuries, diseases of the circulatory system, oncological and pulmonary diseases.
Consumers underestimate the risks of side effects from the use of medicines, their compatibility, and the individual reaction of the body.
The situation is further aggravated by the attitude of buyers to medicines as ordinary consumer goods. This issue is relevant for Uzbekistan, where on average there are 25-27 pharmacies per 100,000 people.
Secondly, Yuksalish proposes to strengthen the responsibility for violation of the legislation on the advertising of medicines.
Last year, the Law “On Advertising” was adopted in a new edition. Despite the fact that it defines clear procedures for advertising medicines, we observe daily violations of the law on television, radio and other types of advertising. We see that pharmaceutical companies turn a blind eye to the requirements of the law.
According to the Code of Administrative Responsibility, violation of advertising legislation is subject to a fine of up to five basic settlement units. However, there is no liability for violation of the norms and requirements of the legislation related to the advertising of medicines.
For this reason, we believe that it is necessary to establish administrative liability for violation of the procedure and legislation related to the advertising of medicines, for cases of violation of the law that led to serious consequences – criminal liability.
A study of the experience of Italy, Switzerland, Canada, Japan, Finland, Germany, Hungary, Great Britain and other countries showed that there, in order to solve the problem of self-treatment, decisive measures were taken to tighten the legislation on advertising medicines.
Thirdly, it is important to strengthen the responsibility of manufacturers, importers of medicines and certifying authorities.
As reported, the preliminary investigation established that the authorized persons of the Scientific Center for Standardization of Medicines LLC grossly violated the requirements of regulatory documents when conducting laboratory studies of Doc-1 MAKS and Ambronol. As a result, low-quality drugs were allowed to be sold. Therefore, we consider it appropriate to include among the subjects of Article 186-3 of the Criminal Code persons who have allowed the distribution of low-quality, counterfeit and inappropriate medicines.
Fourthly, it is necessary to provide citizens with access to modern diagnostics within walking distance, the transition to insurance medicine, which is based on uniform standards of treatment. People often self-medicate, take various drugs, not knowing the exact diagnosis, focusing on advertising. Mistakes also occur at the stage of prescribing drugs by doctors, some of whom, unfortunately, are financially interested in promoting individual drugs. Therefore, it is necessary to move to the system of insurance medicine as soon as possible.
Fifth, it is necessary to ensure openness and transparency in the pharmaceutical industry. The public has the right to know what drugs are imported, who are the manufacturers, their reputation abroad, how the certification process is carried out. It is necessary to form an open database with access to information about the pharmaceutical industry that affects the interests of the general public. It is important to speed up the process of mandatory digital labeling on all types of drugs sold. The buyer, thanks to the labeling, can verify the authenticity of the medicine.
The nationwide movement “Yuksalish” calls on parliamentarians, authorized ministries and departments to take immediate action, medical institutions and pharmaceutical industry institutions to prioritize not commercial, but public interests.
