Russian mulls increase in state funding of drugs public procurements

The Russian government may consider increasing state funding for public procurements of drugs in the next several years, according to recent statements, made by an official spokesman of the federal government and some local media reports.

According to official statistics, the current state expenditures on the drugs procurements in Russia is by 5-6 times lower than in the majority of Western countries, which is considered as non-acceptable by many senior officials in the Russian federal government.

Despite the fact that since the beginning of the novel coronavirus pandemic the government has increased procurements of certain drugs (particularly those, which could be potentially recommended for COVID-19 treatment), the current volume of their supplies to the domestic market is still insufficient. The latter traditionally sparks serious criticism from representatives of local public and patients.