OREANDA-NEWS. April 19, 2012.The task of the Government is to implement in Ukraine European practice of selling medicines to patients: they must be realized only by prescription. This was stated by the Prime Minister of Ukraine Mykola Azarov at a session of the Cabinet of Ministers of Ukraine.

"Consequently, the task is to introduce European practice when medicines (except, perhaps most basic) are being sold only by prescription," said Prime Minister.

As Mykola Azarov has emphasized, people are buying 85% of medicines without prescription but guided by the advice of friends, or advertising. "That is, the country is covered by self-treatment," Prime Minister has noted. "But there long been established that the perception of drug by the body is quite individual. In case of the same disease the medication helps a patient, to another - no. It is necessary a qualified physician decision: what exactly should be prescribed to patient. Therefore, only doctors have to prescribe medication especially in severe cases."

If you rely on self-treatment, Mykola Azarov noted, it is not surprising that 70% of patients complain that "drugs do not work."

He also stressed Ukrainians spend on drugs for more than 20 billion UAH annually: "So, two-thirds of the considerable sums are being spent in vain, towards the profanity treatment."

Another part of this problem, according to Mykola Azarov, is imposing unnecessary and overly expensive drugs to patients. "Big pharmaceutical companies have entangled hospitals and clinics by "network marketing".

The expensive imported drugs are often foisting off patients, for which there are actually cheaper domestic analogues, as well as those without which it is possible to get along."

In this context, Prime Minister emphasized the need to introduce such regulations and treatment protocols that would be obliged physicians to adequate prescriptions and to objective informing of patients about the possible choice of drugs.