Estonia, Financial Services, Health, Legislation, Markets and Companies
International Internet Magazine. Baltic States news & analytics
Friday, 29.03.2024, 15:37
Estonia's Health Insurance Fund spends EUR 195 mln to enable discount on medicines in 2017
There are
altogether over 2,000 medicines with over 500 active substances on the list of
medicinal products distributed at a discount in Estonia, spokespeople for the
Health Insurance Fund said.
Estonia spends less money on medicines per resident
than member states of the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development
(OECD) on average. Almost one-fifth of Estonia's healthcare funding is spent on
medicines.
The use of medicines for the treatment of hypertension
and diabetes in Estonia is equal to the OECD average level. The use of drugs
lowering the cholesterol level and antidepressants meanwhile is smaller by half
in Estonia than the OECD average. Estonian family doctors also prescribe
antibiotics less often than their colleagues elsewhere in the OECD.
Estonian family doctors issue 7.43 million
prescriptions and other doctors 3.7 million prescriptions per year. Prescribed
medicines for approximately one million euros are never bought.
Estonia has achieved a relatively good level when it
comes to the issuance of medicinal prescriptions based on the active substance
of a medicine, not the brand or the name. This is being done by 98% of family
doctors and 88% of other doctors. However, patients of family doctors would be
able to save 9.5 million euros annually by choosing at the counter a cheaper
alternative containing the same active substance.