Abstract

THE PRESENCE OF GENERIC MEDICINES ON THE ALBANIAN REIMBURSEMENT LIST OVER RECENT YEARS

Delina Xhafaj*, Ledjan Malaj

ABSTRACT

In Albania a Reimbursement System is applied and part of the system is known as the reimbursement List. There are currently different drugs on the reimbursement list (patent drugs, generic drugs and drugs with trade name). A generic drug is a pharmaceutical product, usually intended to be interchangeable with an innovator product, manufactured without a license from the innovator company and marketed after the expiry date of the patent or under other exclusive rights. Over recent years, several attempts have been made to enhance the reimbursement list in terms of including additional drugs and, at the same time, lower the total expenditure by introducing generic versions. The aim of the study is to observe the trend of the presence of generic drugs on the reimbursement list over recent years and how important they are to upgrade the health insurance sector. The percentage of generics from 2010-2013 was practically almost the same. The study showed that the policies towards generics listed for reimbursement had not been given any particular attention over the years by the Albania pharmaceutical system and still, nowadays, lacks that focus for promotion of generic medicine that it has lacked in the recent years.

Keywords: Generic drugs, Reimbursement list, Pharmaceutical system.