Central and Eastern European Healthcare Markets Hold Strong Potential for Growth Despite the Economic Slowdown
“On one hand, the Western European markets are saturated with marginal scope for growth,” says Frost & Sullivan Research Analyst Vitaliy Lehkyy. “On the other hand, CEE countries still boast of an unmet demand for pharmaceuticals and medical devices, driven by the rising purchasing power of the population.”
CEE pharmaceutical and medical devices markets are on average 1.5 to five times smaller in value terms per capita than the Western European ones. The improving economic position of countries in the region is resulting in a better quality of life, higher life expectancy and a consequent demand for efficient healthcare services by the ageing population. However, the markets will be restrained by incoherent reforms of the healthcare system and volatile regulatory requirements imposed on market participants.
“For instance, compulsory fees for drug prescription in the Czech Republic and Hungary, a new pharmaceutical pricing scheme in Slovakia, and mandatory labelling of all medicaments in Cyrillic alphabet in Bulgaria, will adversely affect the market in the short-term,” explains Lehkyy. “These measures imply an additional cost pressure either on consumers or drug-manufacturers and will have an adverse effect on the development of pharmaceutical markets in these countries.”
Therefore, timely and effective response from government authorities will be crucial to the favourable development of the healthcare market in CEE.
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