The initiative to increase the margin on medicines in the Republic of Srpska to 25 percent, which would make it equal to the limit valid in the Federation of Bosnia and Herzegovina, will be sent to the Government of the RS by representatives of the pharmaceutical sector.
This conclusion followed a meeting held in the Regional Chamber of Commerce in Banja Luka, where representatives of pharmacies and wholesalers gathered to consider the effects of the Decision on Limiting Margins in Medicines. The meeting was organized by the Chamber of Pharmacy of the RS and the competent association of the Chamber.
The President of the Pharmaceutical Chamber of the RS, Ivan Manojlović, stated that the goal of the gathering was to harmonize positions and launch an initiative towards the entity government.
“We understand the government’s intention to protect the population by limiting the margins, but at the same time the interests of the business community must be respected. The margin is the basic income of pharmacies from which costs are covered and salaries paid to employees,” Manojlović emphasized.
He warned about the possible consequences of this measure for the income of employees in the sector, reminding that the margins were previously limited to 18 percent, while in the period after that they did not exceed 22 percent. As he pointed out, the initiative towards the Government and relevant ministries will be aimed at a solution that would simultaneously protect the interests of patients and workers in this area.
Similar views were expressed by Zorica Tasovac from Trebinje, a representative of the pharmacy sector, who believes that citizens will not significantly feel any possible price changes.
“On an average medicine of 30 marks, the difference between a margin of 20 and 22 percent is about 60 pfennigs. This is not significant for patients, but for pharmacies it is an important source of income from which we finance salaries, contributions and other expenses,” claims Tasovac.
She emphasized that pharmacies do not make a margin on medicines that are dispensed at the expense of the RS Health Insurance Fund, but instead receive a fee for the dispensing service, where the payment of funds often takes up to two months. As she added, patients who use prescription drugs will not have changes in prices, because the restriction applies only to drugs that are not covered by the Fund.
“That’s why we are forced to cover costs from the sale of other products and non-prescription drugs. This is precisely why the issue of margins is crucial for business sustainability.” added Tasovac and stated that the turnover in pharmacies is approximately evenly distributed between medicines and other products.
As a reminder, the Government of Republika Srpska recently passed a decision limiting the maximum retail margin on medicines to 20 percent. This measure came into force last Saturday and is valid until June 1 this year, Akta writes.
