Turkey Regulatory Update: New TITCK Chairman, Rational Prescribing
This article was originally published in PharmAsia News
Executive Summary
The chairman of the Turkish Drug and Medical Device Institution (TITCK) was replaced in late December, while the Ministry of Health has announced new precautions to promote rational prescriptions, and the Turkish Red Crescent will be producing blood products in the country.
ISTANBUL – A PharmAsia News update on Turkish biomedical regulatory policies. For the previous article, see: (Also see "Regulatory Notes From Turkey: Imports Grow, Vaccines JV Formed" - Scrip, 7 Dec, 2014.).
New Chairman For Turkish Drug and Medical Device Institution
On Dec. 24 Ozkan Unal was appointed as the chairman of Turkish Drug and Medical Device Institution (TITCK). He replaced Saim Kerman who has been holding the job since before the reorganization of the General Directorate of Drug and Pharmacy at the Ministry of Health as the Turkish Drug and Medical Device Institution, but which still reports to the Ministry of Health.
A pro-government newspaper, Sabah, ran a story in October claiming that Kerman and some of his assistants caused a TRY800 million ($343 million) loss for the state in licensing deals for a local company called Basel Group. It was also claimed that Kerman was a secret partner of this company. However, the Minister of Health Mehmet Müezzinoğlu made a statement later in the month denying Sabah’s story.
Some analysts also believe that Kerman may have been targeted as a supporter of a religious sect. (Click here for more - Turkish language)
(Click here for more - Turkish language)
Doctors To Be Monitored To Ensure Rational Prescriptions
Determined to stop the prescription of “unnecessary” drugs by doctors, the Ministry of Health has started to promote a campaign for the “rational use of drugs” at the right dose. The campaign focuses particularly on the increased use of antibiotics - a situation that may decrease their effectiveness due to resistance and also raises the pharmaceutical bill for SGK, the public reimbursement agency.
According to the data of the Ministry of Health, the amount of unnecessarily used drugs reached almost two million packages in 2014 and is expected to be close to 2.1 million packages in 2015. Forty percent of all prescriptions in Turkey include antibiotics.
In a new step, the ministry has decided to monitor the prescriptions written by doctors in public hospitals and assess their performance in terms of rational use of drugs. Those who are considered to overprescribe will be warned, while those who are more moderate in their prescriptions will be encouraged.
Ministry bureaucrats are still working on the details to determine the criteria and methods of encouragement. (click here for more - Turkish language).
Turkish Red Crescent To Produce Blood Products
The Turkish Red Crescent has started a joint blood product program with the Ministry of Health. The Plasma Fractionation Project aims to produce certain blood products locally, particularly those related to cancer treatment.
Currently, the Red Crescent collects more than 1.5 million units of voluntarily donated blood, and the organization wants to use this potential to reduce Turkey’s dependency on imported blood products. The Red Crescent has been implementing a “Safe Blood Procurement Program” since 2005 in order to increase the volume of collected blood and raise the standards to the level of EU blood bank standards.
Within the scope of the Plasma Fractionation Project, the Red Crescent will start production of immunoglobulin and albumin, and will add other critical blood products later. (Click here for more - Turkish language)
SGK Adds Four Drugs To Reimbursement List
The Social Security Institution of Turkey (SGK) has added four drugs to the reimbursement list with a notice dated Dec. 24. The drugs were Alzamed (donepezil) 5mg 28 (World Medicine), Desloran (desloratadine) 2.5mg/5ml 150ml syrup (Terra) and Zoltonar (zoledronic acid) 5mg/100 ml IV (World Medicine). (Click here for more - Turkish language)