State health insurance and sales of medical hemp in the Czech Republic
It is the compensation received by patients under the hemp-based pharmaceutical insurance policy that will be fundamental to the “restart” of the Czech market for the use of plants for medical purposes.
The Czech Republic has one of the oldest programs in Europe aimed at the use of hemp for medical purposes, and it has become the second country (after the Netherlands) on the continent to allow the cultivation of medical hemp in the domestic market. Despite the significant successes of the country in the field of regulatory support for the use of hemp for medical purposes, even a few years after the start, the market has still not been able to "gain momentum."
Sales data for cannabis-based pharmacological products, as well as plant flowers with therapeutic properties, for 2019 indicate a slight upturn in the market. At the same time, local industry sources expect that only 2020 will be a turning point, and this will happen if the proposal to compensate for the cost of pharmacological preparations made on the basis of medical hemp with the help of state health insurance is approved at the legislative level. This is due to the discussion in the country's parliament of an amendment to the Law on Medicines, which provides for state medical insurance for the use of pharmacological preparations made on the basis of the therapeutic properties of psychoactive hemp.
In the event that this measure is approved, the state medical insurance will cover 90% of the cost of pharmacological preparations based on hemp or the corresponding flowers of the plant, while the equivalent of covering the cost of a maximum of 30 grams per patient will be allocated per month for compensation. It is expected that it is the compensation received by patients under the hemp-based pharmaceutical insurance policy that will be fundamental to the “restart” of the Czech market for the use of plants for medical purposes.
In particular, the CEO of importer of products Tilray and Aurora Cannabis claims that “there are excellent chances” that this reform will be approved in 2019. “I expect the market to change significantly in early 2020,” says Tomas Kubalek, adding that, according to the Ministry of Health, approximately 2,000 patients will receive up to 30 grams of hemp flowers per month for each, which will lead to a significant increase in overall sales around the country.
Features of the Czech market
The total sales in the Czech Republic in 2018 did not reach 5 kilograms of legally sold cannabis flowers, but since February 2019, sales have reached 1 kilogram every month. This suggests that the volume of sales in 2019 is likely to increase significantly compared to 2018. This is due to a sharp increase in the number of doctors prescribing to patients treatment using hemp flowers or pharmacological preparations made on the basis of the therapeutic properties of the plant. For example, in July of this year, 45 doctors prescribed 1274 grams of hemp flowers to 279 patients. For comparison: in July 2018, only 15 doctors discharged 439 grams to 75 patients.
Sixty-three pharmacies across the country are currently the only certified retail outlets for hemp flowers or plant-based pharmacological products.
Despite the small size of the Czech market, large Canadian companies, including Canopy Growth, Aurora and Tilray, are actively lobbying for their interests aimed at expanding it and increasing the volume of products imported from abroad used for medical purposes.
The use of hemp for medical purposes in the Czech Republic at the level of regulatory legal acts was allowed in 2013, however, only in 2015 did the corresponding program begin to work, although in very small amounts.
According to the State Agency for Medical Cannabis (SAKL), sales for the first few years were irregular, and steady growth began to appear only in the second half of 2018.
Doctors can prescribe dried cannabis flowers with a maximum THC content of 21%. Available flowers may deviate up to 20% of the cannabinoid values specified by the manufacturer. Most hemp recipes are for treating chronic insurmountable pain.
The Czech Republic has a slight domestic increase in the production of legal psychoactive hemp used for medicinal purposes, but is still dependent on imports from the Netherlands and Canada. A flower produced domestically is sold at a price of about $ 9 dollars per gram / The price of imported medical hemp flowers is not regulated. Sativex is approved, but rarely prescribed because of its high price and the inability to use this drug by patients on a regular basis.
Commentary of the Ukrainian Technical Hemp Association
In Germany, where cannabis is usually reimbursed by insurance, the market is growing rapidly and is currently larger than in all other European countries combined. In contrast, in the Netherlands, which for years had offered medical cannabis not covered by health insurance, sales declined from 2017 to 2018, reaching a modest 500 kilograms per year.
It is difficult to compare the financial condition of citizens of the Czech Republic or the Netherlands with the population of our country, however, in both of the above European countries, the use of pharmacological preparations based on hemp or marijuana flowers, which have a significant therapeutic effect over a long period of time, does not develop due to their huge cost. And now we are trying to reverse the voiced situation in the field of medical use of hemp in the Czech Republic and Holland to Ukraine and draw an elementary conclusion, which is clearly demonstrated in the two above European countries - without compensation up to 90% of the cost of cannabis or marijuana preparations with significant therapeutic effect, patients “do not want to vote in money” for the possibility of using medications / flowers made from legal psychoactive hemp for medical purposes.
So it may be necessary not to advocate for changes in legislation aimed at allowing the use of certain groups of goods, which, with the same source, are not popular among patients in Europe, but to change the paradigm of considering this issue, as is done in economically developed countries. Those. use technical cannabis leaves and inflorescences, which have a powerful therapeutic effect on the human body, not only in the pharmacological field, but also as food products, cosmetic preparations, biologically active / feed additives, and other common commodity items everywhere present in the market. Moreover, the use of green mass of technical hemp, which has a significant therapeutic effect, grown not in greenhouse conditions or indoors, but as a normal crop, by several orders of magnitude (tens to hundreds) reduces the final cost of products that can be used in Ukraine changes are only in by-laws and regulations. Maybe that’s why in Canada and France the sector of modern hemp breeding has been developing so rapidly in the last few years, associated with the selection of therapeutic hemp varieties of therapeutic orientation and their introduction into the global market. This is despite the fact that these varieties in Ukraine not only exist, but from the end of 2019 will be included in the State Register of plant varieties suitable for distribution in Ukraine.