Dvorak Criticises Sasko for Presenting Draft Amendment to Drug Policy Too Late

Bratislava, 1 December (TASR) - Vice-chair of the parliamentary health-care committee Oskar Dvorak (Progressive Slovakia/PS) criticised Health Minister Kamil Sasko (Voice-SD) for presenting a draft amendment to the drug policy too late, TASR has learnt at his press conference on Monday. Furthermore, he considers it to be likely that the amendment will ultimately be submitted to the House in a completely different form than in the inter-ministerial comment procedure. Dvorak pointed out that Slovakia has poor access to innovative medicines, adding that the situation is serious. "Patients don't yet know whether they'll have access to medicines at all, or whether access will improve. We've seen in the budget that no significant funds have been allocated for these medicines," he said, adding that he sees the presentation of the draft amendment to the drug policy as another "nice" marketing presentation by Sasko. The health minister earlier on Monday presented a draft amendment to the drugs policy, which should streamline the management of new drugs entering the market, make drugs for children and patients with serious illnesses more accessible, and adjust the conditions for reimbursing the cost of drugs on an exceptional basis. The draft amendment also introduces measures to reduce illegal re-exports, to keep drugs within the reimbursement mechanism, and to ensure that critically unavailable drugs are available. The minister is convinced that the proposed changes will significantly improve the system and patients' access to drugs. He also emphasised that he's submitting the proposal for inter-ministerial review and that every comment will be discussed. am