While Ukrainians pay twice as much for antibiotics, the Ministry of Health includes clonidine and codeine in the list of drugs for mandatory reduction in price. Drugs that have not been used in medical practice for a long time or that are directly related to the risk of addiction suddenly appeared among the "top 100 essential drugs.".
According to the Cabinet of Ministers' resolution, prices for certain medicines were to drop by 30% starting March 1. But experts are sounding the alarm: the list includes "Codepsin" (an opioid analgesic) and "Clofelin" (a drug from the Soviet past, known as a "sleeping pill").
“Clofelin is irrelevant, and codeine is mostly associated with the risk of addiction,” noted narcologist Vadim Neyasov in a comment to UNN. According to him, in civilized countries, such drugs have long been limited in use, and are definitely not a priority for reduction in price.
And the narcologist-psychiatrist Serhiy Mykolayovych even jokes: “Vigor” on the list is probably just nostalgia. “In the 2000s, student interns drank this balm because there was no money for alcohol. Now what — are we going back to those times?”
The Ministry of Health has not yet provided a public explanation as to why these drugs appeared on the list. Moreover, when asked by journalists, ministry representatives were unable to even recall who formed the list and according to what criteria.
Now, Vigor has been removed from the list after a barrage of criticism, but clonidine and codeine remain. Meanwhile, prices for vital antibiotics, cardiovascular disease drugs, and medications for chronic patients are only rising.
It is unclear what explains such pharmaceutical policy. But experts believe that it may be a matter of lobbying by manufacturers of specific drugs or banal incompetence.
"Instead of real support for patients, we get a farce. People expect a reduction in prices for insulin, antibiotics, and medications for hypertension, and they are offered cheaper "Codepsin" and a balm that is no longer even sold in pharmacies," the doctors note.
Despite the decree, real prices have fallen by only 25%, as shown by analytical data. And the rest of the medicines that did not make it to the “golden list” continue to rise in price. The Ministry of Health promises to “revise the criteria”, but for now “Clofelin” remains on the list of drugs that, according to the logic of the ministry, are “vitally necessary for Ukrainians”.
