Medicines are becoming more expensive due to rising production and logistics costs worldwide, while the authorities do not intend to fully liberalise prices for over-the-counter drugs. Health Minister Alexandru Gasnas says prices will be managed differently depending on the category of medicine, with greater emphasis also being placed on treatment reimbursement.
“Prices are rising across, let’s say, all products worldwide. Costs are increasing from a logistics perspective, because producing a medicine five years ago and producing one today involve different costs,” the minister said.
According to the official, manufacturers notify the authorities of their requested prices, while the final cost of a medicine also includes distribution and logistics expenses, as well as commercial mark-ups.
In this context, the Ministry of Health is preparing a differentiated approach to over-the-counter medicines, commonly known as OTC drugs. For essential medicines, such as paracetamol and ibuprofen, the authorities intend to negotiate prices, while medicines purchased for public hospitals through the Centre for Centralised Public Procurement in Healthcare will have price caps.
For non-prescription medicines that do not fall into the essential category, the authorities aim to control prices while gradually liberalising commercial mark-ups.
“There will be no liberalisation where there is no price regulation and everyone can charge whatever they want,” the minister said, explaining that full liberalisation at this stage might not generate genuine market competition.
The official also highlighted another problem: consumers often struggle to distinguish between medicines and food supplements. Unlike medicines, food supplements are not subject to the same price controls, and retailers and distributors set their own prices.
Health Minister Alexandru Gasnaș also noted that access to medicines is affected by the uneven distribution of pharmacies across the country. At the same time, the authorities intend to place greater emphasis on reimbursing medicines to improve patients’ access to treatment.