“The general crisis context, which overlapped the restrictions imposed by the authorities, drove over 25 percent of pharmacies into a near-bankruptcy state,” Petru Craciun, Cegedim’s General Manager, said.
In Romania, medication consumption is one of the lowest in Europe, two-three times lower than in Central European countries and four times below that in Western European countries.
Prescription drugs make up most of the local pharmaceutical market, valued at €1.8 billion, which leads to pharmacies depending on the National House for Health Insurance, which reimburses the value of partially and fully compensated drugs. According to Cegedim, prescription medications make up 66 percent of the total market in terms of volume and 79 percent in terms of value.
Considering that the National House had to face budget cuts this year, due to a decline in contributions because of the economic downturn, pharmacies are increasingly threatened. The pharmaceutical market fell 15.3 percent in volume in the second quarter of 2009. The market dropped 8.8 percent in euro in value in the second quarter of this year, to €449.9 million, mainly due to a 10 percent drop in the prices of imported medications (which make up 80 percent of the market) as of 1 April.
