Moldova Pharmaceuticals and Healthcare Report

Having previously been regarded as the fourth least attractive of the 20 major pharmaceutical market in the region, Moldova is now placed in a more favourable 15th position in BMI's Q409 Business Environment Ranking (BER) table for Emerging Europe. However, this improvement, which brings Moldova's placement to above two of the three Baltic states, is due more to the reduction in absolute scores of other markets as a result of the economic downturn, than to the actual improvement of Moldova's composite figure. In fact, having been valued at only MDL2.05bn (US$199mn) in 2008, Moldova's pharmaceutical market is forecast to increase at a modest compound annual growth rate (CAGR) of 7.99% through to 2013, when it is expected to reach MDL3.02bn (US$327mn) at consumer prices.

Apart from the low per-capita spending on pharmaceuticals, limited by high out-of-pocket contribution to healthcare and modest per-capita incomes, Moldova's operating environment also poses some risks in terms of pharmaceutical counterfeiting activities. Although the country has reportedly made major progress in tackling the issue, the current economic crisis has resulted in more incidences of counterfeiting on a regional scale. Nevertheless, the country remains committed to harmonising its legislation with international standards, which should, in the long term, provide for a solid regulatory base for foreign companies.

In the meantime, political instability will continue to deter foreign direct investment (FDI). Although the country's four major pro-market, pro-European Union (EU) opposition parties are set to form its next government, a slim majority in the July 2009 general election was achieved only following a widespread protest and government crack-down on demonstrators that ensued after the original April 2009 polls.

However, we caution that the Communist Party - which lost the parliamentary majority it had held since 2001 - retains sufficient legislators to block the victorious parties' presidential nominee, which could yet result in a further period of political stalemate as well as hamper the progress of healthcare modernisation programmes.

In terms of its epidemiological profile, Moldova is one of the worst affected countries of the Commonwealth of Independent States (CIS) in terms of alcohol-related disease. BMI calculates that Moldova lost 139 disability-adjusted life years (DALYs) for every 10,000 members of the population to alcohol-related disorders in 2008, which correlates with wider poor public health. In recent months, swine flu has also emerged as a public health threat, with Moldova registering up to 36 infections and one death by early August 2009. In order to address this issue, the Ministry of Health has requested that school goers obtain a medical certificate confirming their health status prior to the start of the academic year in September, with similar schemes in place in other institutions. Moreover, the Republican Extraordinary Anti-Epidemic Commission has stepped up its efforts to monitor and control the A (H1N1) virus in the country. Presently, Moldova has the capacity to test and treat 10,000 swine flu patients.