INTRODUCTION
The Croatian Association of Research-based Pharmaceutical Companies (CARPC), founded in 1994, gathers today 21 innovative pharmaceutical companies, which employ 970 employees and have more than 50% of the market share in Croatia in value of the drugs. The CARPC strongly advocates timely access to innovative drugs, ethics and social responsibility in its members’ business activities, and partnership with all stakeholders in the health care.
The CARPC is a member of the European Federation of Pharmaceutical Industries and Associations (EFPIA).
As active stakeholders in health care, we would like to express the attitudes of CARPC members toward the issues related to drug expenditure rationalization in the Republic of Croatia.
MACROECONOMIC INDICATORS
The key macroeconomic indicators, such as a negative growth rate of the gross domestic product (GDP), high unemployment rate, substantial state budget deficit, and high external debt, show that Croatia has been affected by the economic recession.
At the same time, Croatia is faced with the problem of aging population with two-sided consequences, one being the reduced revenue for the mandatory health insurance system and the other increased expenditures due to increased prevalence of chronic non-infectious diseases and malignancies.
