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Medical defect: will mobile pharmacies improve the availability of discounted medicines
Preferential medicines should be available to the public at fixed prices in both public and private pharmacies, the Russian president said on December 19 during the "Results of the Year", which were summed up in a direct line format combined with a press conference. The Head of State noted that the issue of the availability of medicines in all regions of the country is planned to be solved with the help of paramedic dispensaries, mobile pharmacies and the Russian Post. Vladimir Putin made such a statement after an appeal from a resident of the Sverdlovsk region, who complained about the lack of preferential medicines in the region. According to the president, there are really many such complaints from citizens. The reason for the shortage of preferential medicines and what other problems patients in the regions face is in the Izvestia article.
How to solve the problem of the availability of discounted medicines
Vladimir Putin promised to strengthen control over the provision of preferential medicines to citizens. Dmitry Retired, a resident of the Sverdlovsk region, addressed the head of state during a direct line. The man complained that there are no preferential drugs in local pharmacies, which are prescribed to patients after operations and illnesses.
According to a resident of Krasnoturinsk, an acute shortage of medicines in the city has been observed every year since November.
— The city polyclinic explains that the funding has ended, — said Dmitry. — I ask you to help the officials of the Sverdlovsk region to find the lost finances and provide the residents of the city with discounted medicines, which are so necessary for citizens.
Vladimir Putin replied that there were indeed many similar appeals from citizens. According to the president, on the eve of the direct line, he discussed the issue of the availability of discounted medicines with the government.
— I was assured that everything related to the federal level of responsibility of the compulsory health insurance system, all funds have been sent to the regions. There is not a single case of delay. The issue lies in the proper organization of this work in the regions of Russia, in logistics, in timely decision-making on the conclusion of contracts for the distribution of these drugs to pharmacy chains, and so on. I hope that this problem will be solved," the President said.
Vladimir Putin stressed that discounted medicines should be sold at fixed prices even in private pharmacies.
"This is important, and it will need to be monitored by the relevant control authorities of the Ministry of Health and other control organizations," the head of state said.
In addition, he noted the importance of developing the pharmacy network, in particular through the introduction of mobile pharmacies.
— This practice is becoming more and more widely used in many regions. Appropriate medicines can be sold at paramedic pharmacies, which also solves part of the problem. It is possible to develop this direction in the Russian Post system. That is, how to solve the problem is generally clear. We just need to set up work, we will definitely do it," the president stressed.
The bill on mobile pharmacies was recently submitted to the State Duma, said Yulia Oglobina, deputy chairman of the State Duma Committee on Agrarian Issues. It is assumed that they will sell medicines in villages where there are neither paramedic and obstetric stations (FAP) nor pharmacies themselves. The experiment will be conducted from June 1, 2026 to June 1, 2029.
— I am sure that this will help speed up [the adoption of the bill]. Next year, in the spring session, we must adopt it, because everything that sounds on the direct line is taken under control, and this becomes a priority," she said. — There have been many requests from residents of remote areas where there is no permanent bus service, so such mobile mobile pharmacies will make medical care more accessible.
According to the deputy, it is necessary to use any infrastructure. For example, the sale of medicines was allowed in medical and obstetric centers.
— The second step is pharmacies, — the parliamentarian emphasized. — Health corners have appeared in Russian Post offices where you can measure blood pressure and temperature. We will discuss with our fellow deputies whether additional legislation is needed for the sale of over-the-counter medicines through Russian Post offices in remote villages.
Which regions have disruptions?
Patients with various chronic diseases report annual interruptions in the provision of medicines. For example, Izvestia reported on complaints from patients about the non-issuance of preferential medicines for the treatment of chronic kidney disease in 10 regions in November 2025. Patients reported a similar problem to the editorial board in 2024.
This year, Albina Abdullina, a resident of Bashkiria, told us that since 2024 she has not received Eralphon in a timely manner (the drug stimulates the production of red blood cells). It was only recently that she was given the medicine, after a court decision.
The woman provided Izvestia with a response from the local Roszdravnadzor, which explains that the Ministry of Health of Bashkortostan "did not organize timely drug provision."
— Difficulties with medicines for the treatment of kidney diseases have arisen in the republic every year in autumn and winter for the last four years, and I annually draw the attention of our Ministry of Health to this. But so far there has been no progress," said Yuri Kandalov, head of the Bashkir branch of the Nefro League.
A similar problem was identified in the Saratov and Kirov regions.
In October 2025, patients with rheumatic diseases also faced a shortage of drugs that are used to treat rheumatoid and psoriatic arthritis, polyarthritis, spondylitis, psoriasis and juvenile arthritis.
In addition, patients in some regions are denied compensation for the cost of travel to and from the place of treatment, as well as the provision of medical devices, such as glucose monitoring systems.
Why are there problems with medications?
The problem with the availability of medicines in the regions is organizational in nature and is associated, in particular, with late applications for medicines for patients or incorrect planning of the need for them.
In the Sverdlovsk region, the issue of drug supply can be explained not only by incorrect identification of needs or problems in the organization of procurement, but also by purely bureaucratic issues, says Nikolai Bespalov, Executive Director of RNC Pharma.
According to him, such an approach should be dealt with systematically, the interests of the patient should be an absolute priority, the expert stressed.
Drug shortages in the regions are due to the fact that the federal budget does not provide enough funds for the provision of medicines to patients, said Nikolai Prokhorenko, an expert in the field of healthcare. According to estimates by the All-Russian Union of Patients, for example, an additional 11 billion rubles are required to provide medicines to people from the state program "14 high-cost nosologies" in 2025 and 2026. And to provide medicines for people with heart diseases — 45.3 billion rubles for three years.
Will the FAPs solve the issue of drug availability
Providing patients with drugs through FAPs and Russian Post will not change anything globally, Nikolai Bespalov believes.
— The range of such outlets will be very modest, that is, we will be talking about simple drugs, since it is planned to allow the sale of over-the-counter medicines through the mail. And innovative drugs are unlikely to be available in the FAPs," the expert explained.
But mobile pharmacies, according to Nikolai Bespalov, can solve the problem of drug availability, but only partially. He recalled that it would be impossible to buy drugs containing psychotropic and potent substances, with an ethyl alcohol content of over 25% and with a storage temperature below 15 degrees.
Nikolay Prokhorenko, an expert in the field of healthcare, called the deployment of FAPs in the regions a rather expensive measure for the state and noted that their implementation would not solve the problem of drug availability until sufficient funds were allocated for their purchase. But he called the introduction of mobile pharmacies a more rational measure.
—The installation of FAPs involves paying for more than one person working there, and only one specialist can work in a mobile pharmacy, which is more economically profitable," he explained.
Currently, pharmaceutical licenses have been obtained for more than 37 thousand medical and obstetric centers in the country, where drugs are also dispensed, the press service of the Ministry of Health told Izvestia.
"This measure has already significantly increased the availability of medicines for the population," they stressed.
The system of state price control for medicines included in the list of vital essential medicines (VED), which includes more than 800 international nonproprietary names, is working effectively, the Ministry of Health assured.
On average, according to the ministry, the increase in prices for VED drugs in the pharmacy segment since the beginning of this year has been 4.2%, which is below the inflation rate.
Переведено сервисом «Яндекс Переводчик»
