THE DRUG PROVISION SYSTEM FOR PATIENTS WITH ORPHAN DISEASES IN THE SUBJECTS OF THE SOUTHERN FEDERAL DISTRICT: OPPORTUNITIES AND THREATS

Introduction. The state guarantees program for medical care provision free of charge vests the right of citizens to be provided with drugs treating the diseases included in the list of life-threatening and chronic progressive rare (orphan) diseases. The implementation of this provision is entrusted to the subjects of the Russian Federation, which independently develop a drug care system for these patients. Objective: to determine the opportunities and threats of the drug provision system for patients with orphan diseases in the subjects of the Southern Federal District (SFD) of Russia. Material and methods. The investigation used SWOT-analysis, content analysis, and graphical and sociological methods. The investigation object was the current drug provision system for patients with orphan diseases in 6 SFD subjects. The investigators studied the opinion of 103 health authority specialists, healthcare workers who were in reception of patients with rare diseases and who were engaged in the organization of drug provision. Results. The opportunities and threats of the drug supply system were analyzed from legislative, social and economic points of view. There were 8 positive opportunities of the drug provision system for patients with orphan diseases, which were scored and ranked. There were 7 main negative factors (threats) of the drug provision system for these patients. The scores calculated with regard to the competence of experts were used to construct a relation that allows the degree of threats to be clearly assessed. Conclusion. To improve the drug provision system for patients with orphan diseases, it is necessary to transfer the identified potential threats to the possibilities of the drug care system for this category of patients. The main areas for threat minimization are proposed.