On February 7, Vitebsk /Diana Kurilo - BELTA/. In the Vitebsk region, more than half of the medicinal preparations purchased for hospitals and dispensed by preferential prescription are of domestic production. This was reported to a BELTA correspondent by Yuri Derkach, Head of the Healthcare Department of the Vitebsk Regional Executive Committee. In general, the share of domestically produced medicinal products in the volume of purchases for 2011 was 62% compared to 39% in 2010. Including the republican budget, this figure reached 52% last year. Healthcare organizations of the region purchased medicinal preparations for inpatient treatment and for dispensing to the population by preferential doctor's prescriptions to the amount of Br111.8 billion. In the structure of purchases, domestic manufacturers supplied medicinal preparations under direct contracts to the amount of Br21 billion with zero wholesale markup and depending on the purchase volume with a trade discount. The economic effect is estimated at Br2.3 billion. However, it is incorrect to calculate the effect of the increasing share of domestic preparations solely in monetary terms, noted Yuri Derkach. "Domestic preparations are not inferior to imported ones not only in price but also in quality. Treatment with them is effective," he emphasized. To confirm his point of view, the interlocutor cited statistical data: in the region in 2011, the number of deaths of working-age people decreased by 1.5% compared to 2010, and the number of deaths of older working-age people decreased by 4.3% compared to 2010. According to the interlocutor, these are the best indicators in the republic. The overall morbidity of the region's population decreased to 133,067 per 100,000 inhabitants, infectious morbidity decreased to 2,632.6, ischemic heart disease morbidity to 7,587.0, myocardial infarction morbidity to 175.0, and pneumonia morbidity to 690.5 per 100,000 population. -0-

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