The burden of diseases after the pandemic, the import of pharmaceutical products increased by 35% annually in January-February

Many items of daily consumption that are imported from abroad suffered a decrease in the last year as a result of the negative effects that high immigration is having on the shrinking of the young population.

In contrast, the group of pharmaceutical products is experiencing steady growth from year to year, but especially after the Covid-19 pandemic.

According to INSTAT foreign trade data, in the first 2 months of 2023, imports of pharmaceutical products increased by 31 percent, marking a new record.

In the first 2 months of the year, 1,091 tons of medicines were imported from 833 tons in the first two months of 2022.

Compared to the period before the pandemic, the amount of pharmaceutical products has almost doubled.

Sources from the market claim that the increase is coming for two main reasons. The first is related to the high disease burden that the Covid-19 pandemic left in all diagnoses. Thousands of people who have passed Covid-19 have become chronically ill and require permanent treatment. The pandemic has negatively affected heart disease, arthritis, kidneys and has created permanent damage to the lungs that require periodic treatment.

Market operators claimed that the pandemic created an addiction to the consumption of vitamins, the use of which remains high compared to before the pandemic.

Also, the aging of the population and the increase in the burden of diseases in all diagnoses, also pushed by the pandemic, has reached the demand for treatment with medications.

Market operators claim that despite the growth, Albania has low spending on pharmaceutical products, almost 50% less than the region.

But according to them, the increase in domestic consumption compared to previous years is coming from a series of complex factors related to the aging of the population, improvement of treatment, etc.

Operators claim that the increase would be even greater if the government increased the budget for reimbursement of medications that has been stagnant for years.

The reimbursement budget is not keeping pace with the incidence of morbidity and real needs in the population./MONITOR