Colombian health insurance will cover the cost of medical cannabis treatment
The Colombian government at least relied
on the findings of specialized IETS specialists, who confirmed the
effectiveness of using the therapeutic properties of the hemp plant for the
treatment of a number of serious, including chronic diseases. It must be
emphasized that the national lobbying for amendments to the current legislation
of our country regarding modern hemp growing is based solely on unfounded
statements and assumptions that traditionally have nothing to do with reality
and are mostly populist in nature.
We constantly focus the attention of our esteemed readers
and listeners on the fact that back in the late 90s of the last century,
scientists who studied the therapeutic properties of the plant emphasized that
the existence of pharmacological preparations exploiting the healing properties
of hemp is not competitive compared to food, various additives or cosmetics.
drugs that have similar medicinal properties will always be orders of magnitude
cheaper. Even 30 years ago, an axiom was formulated, according to which the use
of hemp pharmacological preparations is possible only with the help of state
support, carried out in various forms (subsidies, subsidies, insurance, etc.).
That is why we pay attention to the reports of our colleagues from various
regions of the world, which report on another country in which the
pharmacological lobby has imposed the need for compensation from the budgets of
various levels of cost of therapeutically active pharmacological drugs, the
main value of which is not the qualities inherent in nature in the plant, but
the right for a patent that brings super profits to a particular transnational
pharmacological concern.
The Colombian government included pharmacological
preparations made from medical cannabis in the list of mandatory covered drugs
from January 1, 2023. Decree No. 2808 of December 30, 2022 was signed by the
country's Ministry of Health. Thus, the government committed itself to covering
the cost of pharmacological preparations that exploit the therapeutic properties
of cannabis with the resources of the Colombian health care system.
It should be noted that this kind of decision was made on
the basis of the findings of experts from the Institute for the Evaluation of
Health Technologies (Instituto de Evaluación Tecnologica en Salud, IETS), who
confirmed the effectiveness of the therapeutic effect of various components of
the hemp plant on such ailments as chronic and neuropathic pain, as well as
pain sensations, caused by oncology, sleep disturbance, epilepsy and fibromyalgia.
I would like to pay special attention to the mechanism of
pressure on government structures, produced by representatives of the company
"Zerenia Colombia" (a network of clinics specializing in the use of
the therapeutic properties of cannabis for medical purposes). At the end of
2022, an artificial shortage of pharmacological preparations made on the basis
of the therapeutic properties of hemp was created, which was explained as a
consequence of the lack of a prepayment mechanism from the state for the sale
of the company's products.
Specifically, according to Zerenia Colombia, in the first
half of 2022, prepaid prescriptions accounted for more than 90% of the
company's medical cannabis sales in Colombia. With a base of over 25,000
patients, Zerenia Colombia will immediately resume the supply of prepaid
prescriptions through its network of clinics. In addition, “Zerenia Colombia”
already in early 2023 managed to sign a contract for the provision of
“Comprehensive medical services and pharmacological treatment using medicinal
cannabis” with the largest prepaid company owned by the government in the city
of Bogota, under which more than 1.2 million people.
In particular, Alvaro Torres, CEO of the company, said:
“Today is a great day for patients in Colombia. We welcome the Colombian
government's decision to categorically require pre-payment for our
cannabis-derived medical products. By making this decision, the company will be
able to immediately address the shortage of covered medical cannabis products
for our patients. At the same time, we have established a unique contractual
relationship with one of the largest state-owned prepaid healthcare companies
in Colombia regarding the distribution of medical services related to the
therapeutic properties of cannabis. These two achievements will allow us to
return to predictable recurring income, shorter collection periods and improved
cash flow.”
Commentary of the specialists of the
Association “Ukrainian Industrial Hemp”
Naturally, in addition to the negative from understanding the mechanism of lobbying for payment from the state budget for the cost of hemp pharmacological preparations, it makes sense to pay attention to the positive aspects related to hemp growing in Colombia. The country's government at least relied on the findings of IETS specialized experts, who confirmed the effectiveness of using the therapeutic properties of the hemp plant for the treatment of a number of serious, including chronic diseases. It must be emphasized that the national lobbying for amendments to the current legislation of our country regarding modern hemp growing is based solely on unfounded statements and assumptions that traditionally have nothing to do with reality and are mostly populist in nature.
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