Comparative analysis of pharmaceutical supply systems of the population of European countries according to a complex of socio-economic indicators

Abstract

The aim: to conduct an analysis of the state of functioning of pharmaceutical supply systems for the population in European countries and Ukraine based on a set of socio-economic indicators. Materials and methods. General theoretical (historical, formal, graphic, hypothetical-deductive) and applied (organizational-economic, mathematical-statistical) research methods were used. The object of research was data that was freely available. Results. It was established that the highest volume of the pharmaceutical market volume per inhabitant is typical for Italy (410.18 euros) and the lowest for Ukraine (53.58 euros). It has been proven that with an increase in GDP indicators, which are calculated based on purchasing power parity (PPP) per capita, the range of variation of this indicator by groups decreases, and the number of countries with a negative value of the foreign trade balance also decreases. Within groups of countries, there is a different level of dependence on the import of pharmaceutical products. In Ukraine (the first group), imports exceeded the export data of pharmaceutical products by 8.6 times. For other countries in this group (Latvia, Bulgaria, and Slovakia), imports exceeded exports by 1.3, 1.4, and 4.0 times, respectively. The highest values of the volume of foreign trade in pharmaceutical products were characteristic of the countries of the third and second groups. The undisputed leader is Germany (134,541.0 million euros), in second place is Italy (59,533.0 million euros), and in third place is France (58,568.0 million euros). The highest values of health care costs as a percentage of GDP (%) are typical for the countries of the third group and the lowest for the countries of the first group. For all countries, this indicator had a characteristic tendency to increase over time. Growth rates varied both across groups and within groups across countries. According to the indicator of the amount of reimbursement of the cost of drug consumption per person, there was a significant fluctuation of the data by country within the groups. The most extensive range of fluctuations was observed in the third group (284.83 euros). The highest reimbursement amounts are typical for Germany (483.53 euros) and the lowest for Bulgaria (54.25 euros). In most countries, there is a high level (50.0 % and higher) of state participation in the payment of medicine, except for Poland (36.0 %), Lithuania (34.0 %) and Latvia (37.0 %). The lowest values of money consumers spend to pay for medicines (from 13.0 % to 44.0 %) are characteristic of the countries of the third group. Conclusions. The established peculiarities of the functioning of the pharmaceutical supply systems of European countries should not diminish the value of the state's aspirations to harmonize the processes that take place to promote medicinal products to consumers