Hungarian Drug Prices Set To Rise 9%-11% In 1997

Hungary's drugmakers say they will increase producer prices of drugs by 9%-11% in 1997, following talks with the National Health Insurance Fund, reports MTI Econews. This will be well below Hungary's projected 1997 inflation rate, and a long way from covering extra expenditure originating from expected energy and industrial price rises.

The National Association of Hungarian Pharmaceutical Producers (MAGYOSZ) said Hungary will record a deficit in its foreign trade in drugs of $150 million in 1996, the same as in 1995, compared with a surplus of $200 million in 1990. Under an agreement signed with the European Union in 1991, Hungarian drug imports from the EU were to have totaled $40 million in 1992, rising to around $70 million in 1997 and to $100 million in the year 2000. However, said MAGYOSZ, drug imports from the EU were already worth $150 million in 1995, with total drug imports worth $400 million.

The drugmakers say it is the Fund's right and responsibility to decide which products will receive subsidies and how much these will be worth. Half of all drug subsidies, worth 39 billion forint ($245.3 million) in 1996, go on imported drugs.