Hungary: January Drug Prices Rises

Hungary's Welfare Ministry has announced that retail prices of medicinesin the country will increase by an average of 10.8% in January, with a detailed list of new pharmaceutical prices to be published during December, reports MTO Econews. The Ministry added that the average increase in the consumer price of medicines this year is likely to have been less than 10%.

A total of 4,000 pharmaceutical products are currently available on the Hungarian market, of which 1,000 are used exclusively in hospitals. Of the 3,000 products sold outside hospitals, the National Health Fund subsidizes around 1,500 at subsidy rates of 0%, 50%, 70%, 90% and 100%.

The subsidy rates will remain unchanged in 1998, but a total of 1,288 medicines will no longer be subsidized, as manufacturers and wholesalers have not applied for price subsidies on them.