The case of the Bulgarian cooperation

In 2018 the Bulgarian Association for Medicines Parallel Trade Development (BAMPTD) initiated the creation of an online platform where patients can signal missing medicines. A Memorandum of Cooperation with the Federation of Bulgarian Patient’s Forum (FBPF) was signed on June 8. Via the patient associations and the media, the platform was popularised widely, leading to a large uptake by patients and healthcare providers.

Since 9 June 2018, the platform has received almost 1000 signals from patients and healthcare providers from all regions of Bulgaria.

For patients to experience a real benefit of the platform, two key elements are central: speed and practical usefulness of the solution. In 66% of the cases, patients will have an answer within 12 hours. Within 48 hours all signals have been given a final response. The solutions provided depend on the nature of each individual signal. The signals reveal that:

Based on the above, patients will e.g. receive either information on which local pharmacy has the product available or receive it directly from the distributor/platform. In other cases, e.g. where a product is permanently withdrawn, the patient may receive this information with the instruction to go seek their doctor to discuss alternative treatments. Typically, possible alternatives will be indicated to help both the patient and doctor identify the best alternative option.

Source, BAMPTD 2020: https://bit.ly/3cWxDx8