Turkey issues new unilateral Health Application Announcement

The Turkey pharmaceutical industry has criticized the new Health Application Announcement (SUT) prepared by the Social Security Institution (SGK) has been published in the Official Gazette and entered into force this month.

The pharmaceutical sector, which has already claimed to have been left with no breathing space due to government-imposed drug price cuts, is one of the few industrial sectors in Turkey where the government has strict control over medicine prices. Less direct, but equally effective, has been the Social Security System's policy of controlling spending by purchasing (ie, reimbursing) the cheapest alternative drug with the same molecular structure as more expensive products. However, this control should not come as a surprise since over 80 %of all drug purchases are reimbursed by government social security agencies.

With the latest announcement, new unilateral and one-sided regulations have been made relating to reimbursements, contribution shares and discounts between pharmacists and the SGK, says the Association of Research-Based Pharmaceutical Companies (AIFD).