Pharmaceutical companies transferred about 20 million euros to the accounts of patient organizations in Poland over a period of 10 years. According to the conclusions of Polish scientists, the funds are still increasing – this is dangerous for the independence of these organizations, because do these companies pay them selflessly?
Scientists are sounding the alarm: patient organizations are becoming more and more financially dependent on drug manufacturers. This can be seen in the information published by the University of Bat and Kozminsky. In 2012, pharmaceutical companies donated 700,000 euros to patient organizations in Poland. In 2020 it was almost 2.5 million euros and in 2022 it will be more than 3 million euros.
– This is worrying for several reasons: we are talking about international corporations – what is useful for them. They are accountable to their shareholders. They have to make this profit, so these investments in patient organizations are not selfish – notes Dr. Piotr Ozieranski from the University of Bath.
Poland is the sixth largest pharmaceutical market in Europe
These are not unbiased investments, as organizations and foundations representing patients, for example, cancer patients, often put pressure on the government and parliament to reimburse the state for this or that expensive drug.
– Some of these organizations may be part of such a network of influence of pharmaceutical companies. This means that instead of directly lobbying the Minister of Health or the Environmental Assessment Agency, such a pharmaceutical company influences patient organizations – says Dr. Piotr Ozieranski.
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And it is necessary to fight for it, because last year the Polish state spent more than PLN 140 billion on providing services and medicines. We are currently the sixth largest pharmaceutical market in Europe. Therefore, drug manufacturers also place Polish patient organizations on their payroll.
– Poland is in ninth place among the countries that receive the most money. The United Kingdom receives the most, followed by Belgium and France. We are in ninth place. These amounts are not as large as in Western European countries, but in any case, says Dr. Marta Makowska from Kozminski University in Warsaw.
“The European Commission must work to regulate lobbying at home”
The whole European Union has this problem. In 2022 alone, patient organizations in EU countries, as well as in Norway, Switzerland and the United Kingdom, received up to 110 million euros from drug manufacturers. The EU has absolutely no control over this, and this is not surprising, since the EU authorities do not even control the lobbying that takes place in the EU headquarters.
SEE ALSO: Ministry of Health restricts “easy access” to strong drugs. They are no longer available in prescription machines – the European Commission needs to work on regulating lobbying in its own country. Because currently there is only one transparency register, but there is no proper lobbying regulation, which includes the European Commission, the European Council and the European Parliament, where most of the action takes place, says the professor. Grzegorz Makowski of the Fund. Stefan Bathory, a teacher at the Warsaw School of Economics.
The problem is that the interests of drug manufacturers, who are increasingly lobbying, often conflict with the interests of the public, including patients.
Main photo source: TVN24
