Roadmap for the implementation of the medicines verification system in Ukraine presented to European partners

The European Medicines Verification Organization (EMVO) has been presented with a roadmap for the implementation of the medicines verification system in Ukraine.

The regulation of the pharmaceutical industry in Ukraine is gradually aligning with EU standards. In 2022, the Ukrainian parliament passed a new law “On Medicines”, aimed at preventing the circulation of counterfeit drugs. One of the steps on this path is the implementation of a medicine verification system in Ukraine, which includes 2D coding.

By the way, the total volume of the pharmaceutical market in our country is several hundred million packs.

Thus, the Ministry of Health, together with the United States Agency for International Development (USAID) project “Safe, Affordable and Effective Medicines for Ukrainians” (SAFEMed), has developed a roadmap, formed in 2022 and scheduled until 2026, to launch this system in Ukraine. Last year, drafting bylaws and the alignment of positions with international organizations began, along with active consultations with the market itself and partners and stakeholders.

This year, the Ministry of Health and representatives of the pharmaceutical market signed a memorandum on the implementation of the national system of verification of medicines. It is also planned to establish a National Organization for the Verification of Medicines, and to select an IT service provider for the future implementation of the system itself. The intention is to launch the system in 2024 and connect users to it two years later.

“The EU has two-level drug verification system, which consists of pan-European and national information systems (about 30). At each level, there is a corresponding operator (verification agency) - the European Medicines Verification Organization (EMVO) and national ones (NMVO), which were established as non-profit non-governmental organizations at the expense of all pharmaceutical market participants,” says Mariia Karchevych, Deputy Minister of Health for Digital Development. “In my opinion, the EU model for creating such a system in Ukraine should be used as a benchmark, including the data format, the status of the national verification organization responsible for collecting and storing information, and other technical aspects. This approach will allow the European and Ukrainian systems to be combined in the future. All of this will lead to even deeper integration of Ukraine into the European pharmaceutical market and facilitate bilateral trade in high-quality safe medicines.”

Following the meeting, we agreed with EMVO on further consultations and cooperation.