Turkey's AiFD highlights pharma industry woes

Turkey’s Association of Research-Based Pharmaceutical Companies (AİFD) has issued a public statement regarding the application of the removal of the public corporate discounts applied in some drugs on 16 December 16, 2011, by the country’s Social Security Institution (SGK).

The SGK has decided to remove the public discount previously introduced on 125 drugs. Moreover, the notification to Ministry of Health for the new price determination related to 100 drugs has been made and it has been decided that only one of two applications, the public corporate discount or the price decrease, will be applied related to 140 drugs.

These developments are positive for the pharmaceutical industry, but are not sufficient for the resolution of the problems. Unfortunately, says the Association, “contrary to what is reflected to the public opinion, the following basic problems, which affect our industry and the access of our patients to the drug unfavorably, still continue to exist.”