The tax has increased the price of drugs

Like the goods market in general, Kosovo's drug market is undergoing changes as a result of the customs fee. The Kosovo government, since November last year, has decided to raise 100 per cent the customs tax on products imported from Serbia and Bosnia and Herzegovina. The products include drugs.

Imports of drugs from Bosnia and Herzegovina were larger compared to imports from Serbia. Currently these drugs, according to professionals in this field, Imports are being replaced Other countries, but local products as well. Meanwhile, the main effect is rising prices.

Pharmacists in the country say that imports of drugs from Serbia and Bosnia can be replaced because they, according to them, are not vital and as such pose no major problem.

What has been noted since the tax was issued, says Radio Free Europe, Alban Descu, a pharmacist, is that the prices of medicines have been artificially raised, which mentions Bosnia and Herzegovina's drugs, where they have all been raised for seven percent at the price of purchasing from suppliers.

Meanwhile, on the market, it cites one of the drugs used to regulate blood pressure, which from 2 euros to 50 cents on average has cost before the tax, can now be bought at a price of 4 euros and 20 cents.

We've never been dependent on these countries. There are molecules that most of them have had in Kosovo. They're genetic drugs and I can't say that there's been any need for drugs from these two countries that have already been taxed 100 percent from Kosovo”.

But the price of drugs has increased. This is happening as a lack of the Law to regulate the price of drugs. Thus, authorized drug import distributors have increased them, although they have not imported drugs since the tax was imposed. But despite that they have raised the prices”, Descu said.

Meanwhile, the head of the Kosovar Agency for Medical Products, Arian Jakupi, announced how this Agency has not yet done any analysis of why or whether the prices of drugs have been raised at the market.

I don't have an exact analysis of whether prices have been raised or not in drugs, but what I can say is that these products are genetic and have registered therapeutic alternatives and there hasn't been any reporting on the lack of drugs from both states”.

The products that are now on a 100 - percent tax, normally higher prices, but patients have the option of selecting a substitute product. Despite this, I have no information about how much import has been made from these two states since taxes have been imposed by the state of Kosovo”, Jakupi said.

Albattri Matoshi, media adviser to Health Minister Uran Ismaili, told Radio Free Europe that there should be no concern about the availability of these drugs in the pharmaceutical sector, since all drugs are replaced. He also adds that there has been no complaint about the lack of drugs from these states from public health institutions.

After the introduction of the Government of the Republic of Kosovo's decision to impose a 100 per cent tax, an analysis of all the drugs recorded by producers coming from Bosnia and Serbia has been made. After this analysis, it has proved that the drugs which come from these two countries are genetic products and which have parallels and replacements recorded by local producers or other” producers, Matoshi said.

However, Kosovo has been supplied with drugs from Bosnia for some 20 years and two years from Serbia, since Serbian state drugs have been recorded late, as they have not been imported for years.