Health news
12/07/2005 Medical techniques: miracles become reality.
The article provides an interview with Mihail Yulin, the commercial director of MEDEK Instrument Group. The main ideas of the interview are given below.
Serial medical production is very routine. In fact, there were no proper surge tables, multi-functions beds, good instruments and appliances in Russia before. That is why everything is new for our country.
The most interesting developments in Russia lately become:
1. multifunctional bed with lateral slopes and scales
2. chair-bed for obstetrics
3. several special sets of instruments.
Usually, novelties go to the surgeons. GPs get their novelties from the pharmaceutical companies.
The whole story is available in Russian.
12/07/2005 Brands are prohibited for doctors.
At the end of the last week, the Duma approved decision to prohibit doctors to prescribe brands, now they should use only the names of the chemical combinations.
The decision is backed up by the Russian generics producers (generics are chip analogues of the original medicines). The representatives of the western companies insist that the adoption of the decision will lead to a 20% fall in turnover of the leading pharmaceutical companies.
Today 60% of the promotion budget is spent on doctors, and pharmaceutical chemists are the simple sellers. Predictably, that after the decision is approved, pharmaceutical chemists will play the main role in the promotion campaign.
Usually, the producers “finance” the management of the pharmacy, but not the chemists themselves. Consequently, the chemists won’t promote any medicines, - Yurii Krestinskii (the chairman of BIONIKA) said.
Significantly, during the second preliminary meeting the Duma is going to add an amendment that all the above apply only to the privileged medicines (e.g. medicines for pensioners, invalids, etc.)
However, now the “privileged” turnover is one third part of the Russian pharmaceutical market. It means that this decision will certainly lead to the global changes in the market.
The whole story is available in Russian.
n/a The Duma approved amendments in the bill “About drugs”
The Duma approved amendment in the bill “About drugs” at the first reading. The bill enters such meaning as “International non-patent name”, “retail price on medicines”. These concepts are missing in current law.
The bill suggests to prescribe medicines by chemical components, but not by trading brands. On the other hand, it looks forward to offer limited retail price on medicines which should be supplied by the pharmaceutical producers to register medicines in the Federal commission.
The whole story is available in Russian only.
n/a Pension "Hole"
The government hopes to cover it, still not increasing retirement age
The government of Russia has to solve two main problems: raising money to pay out current pensions and keeping pension accruals. A "hole" in the Pension fund resulted from the decrease of the consolidated social tax since 2005, Russian Newspaper reports.
This year Federal Budget has to compensate to the Pension Fund 180-230 bln rubles and by 2008 the deficit may rise to 700-800 bln rubles a year. "The deficit in the Pension Fund arose due to compensations to social funds made from the Federal budget, which is not a proper solution for this problem", Health and Social Development Minister Mikhail Zurabov reported to the Russian Newspaper.
The Ministry of Economic Development states other reasons causing this deficit. There is a problem with indexation of pensions insurance part, for pensions rise faster than payments that enable paying out pensions. The "inside" the system reserves can be sought out to reduce the deficit. Retirement age can be increased as well. Another solution proposed by M. Zurabov is to include employees in the social security system and make their payments individual provided that the salaries grow.
This year 84 bln rubles will be appropriated for the pension fund part, and approximately 230 bln by 2008. V. Vyunitsky, Councillor of Head of Pension Fund, sees two solutions: move further developing financial market and decrease growth of money supply merely limiting the number of people with the right to participate in savings.
The Ministry of Finance also proposes other solutions for this problem and seriously considers not to increase the fund part of pension contributions of younger people up to 6% from the labour compensation fund.
The whole story is available in Russian only
n/a Ministry of Health Offers 10,000 for Birth of a Child
"Interfax" reported June 7 that Health and Social Development Minister Mikhail Zurabov proposed to increase the sum of birth immediate compensation up to 10,000 rubles as well as increase the sum of monthly benefit up to 1000 rubles for children under 1,5 years old.
Yet, according to the data of the Federal Service of Government Statistics, in 2004 the resident population number of Russia fell by 700,000 and in 2003 by 0,8 mln people.
The whole story is available in Russian only.
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