Capitalism engendered two emotional trends in Romania: on the one hand, it introduced stress to those that started making money and, on the other, it caused depression to those that failed to adjust to the transition rules.
Consequently, the figures point to these spreading disorders: the Romanian market of mood-brightening drugs has tripled in the past two years, soaring to 36.08 million dollars.
Consumption surged 50% in the past three years, with the growth pace showing no signs of slowing down, as, according to specialists, only a tiny portion of demand is being met.
The market growth was triggered, according to drugmakers and members of the medical community, by both the increasing number of people with health problems (caused by the living conditions and stress) and by a timid opening of the Romanian society towards this kind of disorders. Moreover, in Romania, as well as worldwide, new drugs have entered the market, raising both the efficiency and the costs of the treatments.
"The market's value has seen tremendous growth, due to the increasing number of people affected by these disorders and to the discovery of new molecules, which are much more effective than the old ones. On the other hand, the market is still small, if we consider the real needs: in the case of schizophrenia, for instance, out of 200,000 people affected (according to estimates), only 50,000 appear in the official records. In the case of depression, the ratio is very similar, mainly because of the Romanian society's attitude towards these disorders. The Hungarian market, for instance, amounts to well over 100 million dollars, whereas the population is half Romania's," says Ovidiu Popescu, corporate affairs director for Romania of the US group Lilly, the main competitor on the Romanian market.
According to market information, the psychiatric disorders that absorb the most money in Romania include schizophrenia, for which $15 million were spent last year, and depression ($8 million).
"Depression is constantly spreading, but this is not the only factor contributing to the growing expenses. Another two big factors are the emergence (over the past 4-5 years) of very effective but also highly expensive drugs, and the gradual change of people's attitude towards this type of disorders," says doctor Florin Tudose, head of the Psychiatric Unit of the Emergency University Hospital in Bucharest.
Internationally, due to the surge in the number of people suffering from psychiatric disorders in the past ten years, most of the big groups (Pfizer, Lilly, GlaxoSmithKline, Johnson&Johnson) are beginning to pump more money into research. Thus, new molecules have emerged, which immediately made it into the top of the best-selling drugs worldwide.
Since Romanian producers have hardly funded any research in the field (the discovery of a new molecule implies costs of more than 500 million dollars), the drugs made by the international producers rule the Romanian market. laurentiu.ispir@zf.ro
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