Access to Medicines - inequalities persist but solutions must be found in partnership
25.05.21
Speaking about the publication of the survey and report, EFPIA Director General, Nathalie Moll said “EFPIA and its members are committed to creating faster, more equitable access to medicines across Europe. To achieve this goal requires a clear picture of the access to medicines landscape in Europe, an evidence-based, shared understanding of the root causes of barriers and delays to access, and the co-creation of solutions. Today's reports provide clear data on the time it takes patients to get access to medicines across Europe in a number of therapy areas, as well as, a detailed analysis of the reasons behind variation, barriers and delays. We hope the reports contribute to a shared understanding of the issues and provide a platform for the creation of a High Level Forum on Access to Innovation that can begin to address the issues in partnership with patients, health systems, Member States and the EU Institutions."
The Patients W.A.I.T. Indicator Survey, shows the average time to patient access to treatments across EU and European Economic Area (EEA) countries continues to be as long as 504 days, ranging from 120 days in Germany to over 883 days in Romania.
Nathalie went on to say “Ultimately it is patients that bear the impact of significant delays and unavailability of medicines. Our analysis of the root causes of these issues shows they are multi-factorial; including late start of market access assessment, duplicative evidence requirements, national pricing and reimbursement policies as well as company decisions driven by a combination of these factors. We hope that the combination of the W.A.I.T Indicator Survey and the EFPIA/CRA analysis can contribute to an evidenced-based dialogue across all stakeholders to find collaborative solutions.”