Roche, as a Swiss company, is one of the most active representatives of the Swiss business in Serbia. This leading innovative pharmaceuticals company is one of the founders of the Swiss-Serbian Chamber of Commerce, a member of INOVIA and the Foreign Investors Council, as well as an active member of the business community in Serbia. Also, it is an active participant in key economic and sectoral meetings, such as the Economic Summit, Health Summit and Kopaonik Business Forum.
“Roche strives to provide a visible contribution to improving the quality of healthcare by making available the most advanced treatment options. We are committed to working with all key stakeholders involved in improving the health system in Serbia, but also the business environment” – says Ana Govedarica, GM of Roche Serbia, explaining: “We know that healthcare is a complex area that requires a serious and multidisciplinary approach, and for that reason we try to be present and active in all places where discussions and decisions about health are made.”
At the recently held Economic Summit, Dr Govedarica participated in the panel entitled “The road to a sustainable and efficient healthcare system”. According to her, healthcare must be represented at the most important macroeconomic events, where all relevant decision-makers are present – representatives of the Ministry of Health, Ministry of Finance, industry and business associations, such as NALED and the Serbian Chamber of Commerce.
“We hope that better organisational, managerial and financial aspects of healthcare will create the conditions for a much more efficient and sustainable system. To make this happen, cooperation between medical, economic and financial experts is necessary. Only long-term planning based on valid data can bring improvement to public health and the desired health outcomes” – says Ana Govedarica
“Our key message was that it is necessary to work on improving the management of resources and processes in healthcare. The level of spending that directly burdens the users of health services, the so-called “out-of-pocket” segment, is exceptionally high, reaching around 40 per cent. In neighbouring countries, as well as the reference countries, the share of public funds is much higher, thereby making the portion borne by patients considerably lower. Considering that healthcare is among the top priorities of the Government of the Republic of Serbia, we expect some necessary improvements will be made in this area, to manage the budget for healthcare appropriately” – explains Dr Govedarica.
As a very positive change, our interlocutor highlights the recently improved reimbursement list of medicines, which was frozen for several years. Negotiations between pharmaceutical companies and the Health Insurance Fund on so-called managed entry agreement are another novelty per se. This should ensure the predictability of Health Insurance Fund expenses, on the one side, and access to the latest medicines for patients, on the other.
This is very good news primarily for patients, but also for the healthcare system, the results of which are measured by the outcome of health services. Innovative therapy accounts for 73 per cent of all factors responsible for the extension of life expectancy, and Serbian healthcare mustn’t lag behind other European countries when it comes to the availability of these therapies.
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Roche is focused on developing innovative medicines and diagnostic tests that help patients live longer, better lives. We strive to address unmet medical needs through excellence in science. Our focus is on oncology, immunology, ophthalmology, infectious diseases and neuroscience, and we combine our strengths in pharmaceuticals and diagnostics to better fit treatments to patients.