Starting from September, the population of Russia may be deprived of modern medicines. This is expected due to a new rule in state procurement of medicines — the "second is superfluous" principle. This was reported by the Pravilamag publication.
According to the new rule, if medicines fully produced in Russia participate in tenders, other applications — especially for drugs produced abroad or only partially in Russia — will be rejected. This may deprive citizens of access to certain important, and even life-saving, medications.
The new restriction covers 215 drug items, including blood components, psychotropic and narcotic drugs, as well as some cancer treatment medicines. This list also includes medicines from the essential and vital drugs list (ZhNVLP — Life-saving and Most Important Medicines).
The All-Russian Patients' Union and other industry experts warn that this decision may lead to an artificial monopoly in the pharmaceutical market, limit options, and result in higher prices for some vital medicines.
According to them, local manufacturers are technically unable to fully replicate some modern drugs. As a result, patients may lose access to treatments that meet high international quality standards.
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