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The Verkhovna Rada of Ukraine supported draft laws that prohibit the placement of advertising information on drug packages and establish restrictions on the participation of doctors in the promotion of pharmaceutical products.
The draft law was developed by the Ministry of Health for the implementation of the State anti-corruption program for 2023-2025.
The document prohibits doctors, pharmacists, and rehabilitation specialists from prescribing drugs, medical products or rehabilitation aids under the influence of direct or indirect financial incentives, namely:
- receiving souvenir and branded products;
- premiums, bonuses, gifts;
- return of part of the funds for the purpose;
- participation in contests, lotteries, events from pharmaceutical representatives in exchange for appointment.
Today's decision of the parliament is an important step towards improving the quality of treatment and the level of trust in the medical system in general. Transparency, lack of financial incentives and personal gain are the key to the objectivity of recommendations provided by doctors, pharmacists and rehabilitation specialists, – noted Minister of Health of Ukraine Viktor Lyashko.
Also subject to the ban is the prescribing of medicinal products on forms that contain advertising information or contribute to controlling the frequency of prescription. Restrictions will also apply to medical products and rehabilitation aids.
Similar bans have been in effect for many years in the countries of the European Union and the United States of America, – said Mykhailo Radutskyi, deputy of the “Servant of the People” faction, chairman of the Committee on National Health, Medical Care and Medical Insurance.
Pharmacists, when dispensing medicines at the request of buyers, will be obliged to provide reliable information about the available analoguesthat may be equivalent in their action, composition or effectiveness. In addition, it is forbidden to hide information about drugs with a similar active ingredient at a lower price, guided by one's own benefit.