Local health sector grows despite hot problems

ISTANBUL - Hürriyet Daily News

The Turkish pharmaceutical industry is anticipating an annual growth of 15 percent to reach $16 billion by 2014 despite lingering problems, according to Deloitte’s global health and pharmaceutical industry report. Turkey’s health sector is one of the significant developing markets, the report said.

While Turkey aims to enhance its domestic product quality as well as domestic production and export capacity with “Good Manufacturing Practices,” the financial incentives and simplifying administrative procedures that the Turkish government has introduced is attracting foreign drug makers. “Approximately 90 percent of drugs consumed are manufactured domestically, primarily by foreign companies or their domestic subcontractors” Deloitte reported.

As a result of favorable government funding incentives, research and development activity is also forecast to increase. “However, heavy price controls as well as patent issues and tax challenges could negatively impact pharmaceutical companies’ financial results and their resources available for R&D activities and, thus limit overall industry growth,” said the report, remarking the downsides of the sector in Turkey.
General Health Insurance is to encourage demand for health services as well. “The government plans to boost total healthcare spending that will likely rise from an estimated $44 billion in 2008 to $64 billion in 2014, according to EIU,” the report said.

The report encapsulates the global and local problems that pharmaceutical industry faces, including the high competition over generic drugs, increasing pricing pressures despite limited financial resources, increasing laws and regulations and overall economic instability of the markets.