In the absence of access to clinical trials, early access programs and donations of medicines are the only mechanisms that provide access to medicines prior to their registration or reimbursement.
The aim of this master's thesis was to gain insight into the systemic regulation and performance of early access programs and donations of medicines in Slovenia. To this end, 12 interviews were conducted with key stakeholders, including 7 representatives of healthcare providers, 2 representatives of regulatory authorities (JAZMP and ZZZS), and 3 representatives of pharmaceutical companies. Additional interviewees were included in the study until saturation of the data, collected in the interviews was evident. Audio recordings were made during the interviews, from which transcripts were prepared. Qualitative analysis of the collected data was conducted using the NVivo 11 Pro program. Based on the interviews, coded references from the interviews were assigned themes and subthemes.
Participants perceived early access programs as positive, particularly because they provide faster access to innovative treatments, thereby improving patients’ treatment options. Several interviewees cited the lack of clinical trials of medicines and the long time between drug registration and reimbursement as the main incentives for early access programs and donations. Almost all participants expressed satisfaction that early access to medicines exists in Slovenia, but also pointed to some areas for improvement. In particular, the lack of options between registration of a medicinal product and its reimbursement is problematic. Donations of medicines that provide access to treatment during this period, are not viewed very favourably by most participants, as some consider them controversial and unethical, while others have problems with them not providing the same level of traceability as early access programs. Most stakeholders also emphasized their desire to see a publicly available list of early access programs. This would help increase the availability of information about the programs that is not currently not widely available. It also hinders the work of physicians, who are not often involved in setting up and running the programs. Another obstacle for physicians, according to several stakeholders, is their overload in regular practice.
Since this is a pioneering area of health care, both in Slovenia and worldwide, we believe that continuous education is of utmost importance to preserve what is good and improve it for the benefit of patients.
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