Activity of pharmacies in Ukraine during the war

Abstract

Introduction. The full-scale invasion of the russian federation on the territory of Ukraine on February 24, 2022 led to a sharp decrease in economic activity, a humanitarian crisis, active displacement of the population, a decrease in income and a rapid increase in unemployment. The loss of potential consumers and pharmacies (due to broken and closed ones, lack of staff) and territories (due to hostilities, temporary occupation) caused the loss of the drug market. Material & methods. The methods used are: system approach, analysis, comparison, generalization and questionnaire survey method. A questionnaire consisting of two blocks of questions was developed for conducting the survey: the social profile of the respondents and questions on the issues of the research. The social profile of the respondents included questions about age, gender, workplace characteristics ("institution where you work", "position held"). The evaluation of the activity of pharmacy institutions concerned changes related to visitors to the pharmacy / pharmacy point, changes in the work of the institution, personnel changes, changes in cooperation with other organizations, as well as the participation of institutions in volunteer and charity activities. At the end, the respondents assessed the impact of military actions on the work of pharmacy institutions in general (on a scale from 1 to 5). The materials of the research were: normative legal acts regarding the activity of pharmacy institutions of Ukraine, adopted after the beginning of the full-scale invasion of Russia (February 24, 2023); publications in the specialized publication "Apteka" addressed to specialists in the field of health care about the activity of pharmacies in Ukraine; results of own research (results of surveys of experts (pharmaceutical specialists)). Results & discussion. During the full-scale war between russia and Ukraine, there were changes in the legislation regarding the activity of pharmacies, in particular, changes were made to the Licensing conditions for conducting economic activities in the field of pharmacy, a new Law of Ukraine "On Medicinal Products" was adopted, and other changes in the legislation regarding the circulation of drugs were implemented and staffing the industry. The pharmacy market is actively recovering, state programs are being successfully implemented (e-prescription, "Affordable Medicines"). At the same time, military operations have a negative effect on drug consumption, although there was no shortage of drugs. The volume of sales of pharmacies for 9 months of 2023 increased by 30% compared to the previous year. New professional standards for pharmaceutical specialists were approved and their reserve was provided to meet the need for specialists in the de-occupied territories. The labor market has a tendency to recover, and an increase in the average salary of pharmacists is also recorded. The European Commission supports the employment of Ukrainian pharmacists abroad. Expert opinion was studied (67 pharmacists were interviewed) regarding changes in the activity of pharmacies during a full-scale war. It was established that: the number of visitors has not changed (according to 41% of respondents) and has decreased (41%); the purchasing power of the population decreased (62.7%); the establishment's price policy (74.6%), work schedule (32.8%) and product range (23.9%) have changed; staff turnover increased and the number of employees decreased in general (by 32.8% each), the amount of overtime work and the duration of the work shift increased (14.1% and 12.5%, respectively), the duration of vacation decreased (14.1%); wages did not change (59.1%), increased (24.4%) and in some pharmacy establishments - decreased (18.2%); in general, competition has increased (50.0%), the efficiency of cooperation with doctors has decreased / increased (27.3% and 21.2%, respectively), the composition of suppliers has changed (15.2%); pharmacy establishments participate in campaigns to help the Armed Forces of Ukraine and internally displaced persons (49.3% - systematically, and 34.3% - sometimes); the impact of military actions on the work of pharmacies is negative (87.7%). The generalized average assessment of the impact of military actions on the activity of pharmacies is 3.4 points on a 5-point scale. Concliusions. The study of the peculiarities of the activities of pharmacies during a full-scale war showed that pharmacies are fully operational, even in crisis conditions, state programs on medical provision of the population are being implemented, and changes in legislation are helping to adapt pharmacies and pharmacists to the new realities of work. The pharmacy market is recovering both from the point of view of resuming the operation of pharmacies in the territories where possible and sales volumes, and from the point of view of providing the market with personnel.

 Keywords: drug; pharmacy; war, hostilities, martial law