Drug Policy in Central and Eastern Europe-Russian Federation.

OBJECTIVES: To describe characteristics of the drug policy in Russia in terms of health technology assessment (HTA), registries of patients, pricing of drugs, cost-containment methods, and reimbursement of drugs.

METHODS: The legal and regulatory frameworks and the literature were reviewed to analyze several aspects of Russian healthcare: the scheme of cooperation between its structures, its levels, drug provision, issues related to HTA, the reimbursement system, pricing of medicines, and cost-containment methods.

RESULTS: The Russian drug policy has improved over the last few years: HTA has been developed, rules for the pricing of drugs and cost-containment methods have been established, and registries of patients have been created. The reimbursement system in Russia is different from the ones in Western Europe and consists of a few programs: reimbursement for specific categories of citizens, vital and essential drug list, list of 24 orphan diseases, list of 7 nosologies, and other programs, depending on region. Financing for drug provision in Russia is divided into 2 levels: federal and regional. There is still a lack of transparency and equality in healthcare as well as huge differences in access to healthcare, depending on region.

CONCLUSIONS: The healthcare system in Russia is complicated and needs improvement. Nowadays, changes are being made; for example, there are attempts to implement HTA at federal and regional levels.