Patient access

In order for patients in Switzerland to benefit more quickly from medical innovations, we need a competitive Swiss location that attracts, appropriately values and rewards innovation.

Rapid access to innovative therapies and medical services is crucial to the quality of healthcare. Only in this way can patients benefit from medical advances. The cancer mortality rate in Switzerland has been significantly reduced, thanks in part to innovative drugs: today, 20% fewer people die from cancer than in 2010 (source: Federal Statistical Office). The cure rate for hepatitis C has more than doubled between 1999 and today, from 41% with the first generation of drugs to over 95% with the fourth generation.  These and many other achievements in medicine are also reflected in the life expectancy of Swiss citizens. At over 85 years for women and over 81 years for men, Switzerland has one of the highest life expectancies in the world. Thanks to better healthcare, new and innovative medicinal products, improved hygiene and a high quality of life, we are not only living longer, but also more healthily.

Comprehensive efforts needed

Since 2016, there have been increasing delays in the inclusion of innovative medicines in compulsory statutory health insurance. This means that patients are waiting longer and longer for full and equal access, even though these drugs and therapies have already been approved. This negative trend has become even more pronounced in recent times. The statutory deadline of 60 days (HIBO Art. 31b) is exceeded many times over each year and is rarely observed. In addition, Switzerland is slipping further and further behind in terms of access to new innovative medicines: compared to Germany, only around half of new innovative therapies are fully available in Switzerland. Switzerland ranks just ahead of Bulgaria in terms of broad and equitable reimbursement through the Specialties List. Patients suffer as a consequence, because many of them cannot wait that long.

Comprehensive efforts are therefore required to make the reimbursement procedure in Switzerland internationally competitive again. The pharmaceutical industry has put forward concrete and feasible proposals for modernizing the outdated pricing system and is campaigning for rapid and equitable patient access to new medicines. With the implementation of reimbursed access to innovation, Swiss patients should have access to new therapies from the day of their approval by Swissmedic. It is important to implement this system in an unbureaucratic and attractive way.

Public opinion

The population wants access based on solidarity and fairness, but is open to that access being managed in an efficiency-driven way. On the other hand, it clearly rejects rationing. Ensuring the widest possible access to medical services for all insured persons remains a key concern for the population – there should not be a two-tier healthcare system. At the same time, cost awareness is increasing, which means, for example, that models that place a stronger focus on covering high risks are gaining acceptance. The population wants balanced regulation by the market and the state, as well as joint management responsibility shared between the federal government and the cantons.

These findings are taken from the Health Monitor, a study commissioned by Interpharma and conducted by the research institute gfs.bern. This study provides important insights into the attitude of the Swiss population toward the healthcare system and the role played by the Swiss pharmaceutical industry within it. It serves as an informative interface between the public and the pharmaceutical industry and regularly addresses concerns, expectations and opinions on one of the most complex domestic policy issues: the Swiss healthcare system.