Ukraine bans the use of advertising in drug labeling

The Verkhovna Rada has adopted Draft Law No. 11172, which proposes amendments to the Law on Medicines that prohibit placing advertising information on drug packaging.

This was announced by one of the initiators of the draft law, MP from the Servant of the People faction, Chairman of the Verkhovna Rada Committee on National Health, Medical Care and Health Insurance Mykhailo Radutsky.

According to him, the document envisages bringing Ukrainian legislation in line with European standards by approving new rules for labeling medicines.

He added that in Ukraine, there are numerous cases of pharmaceutical manufacturers using information in the labeling of medicines that contains unfounded claims about the benefits of a particular drug compared to a similar drug from another manufacturer.

The draft law prohibits the placement of any advertising on the packaging of medicines that promotes the promotion of a medicinal product on the market, in particular, the formation of an opinion about the exclusivity or superiority of a medicinal product.

"This misleads consumers and violates the rules of fair competition in accordance with the EU directive," commented Radutsky on the importance of the draft law.

In this regard, the head of the committee noted, it will be prohibited to put any advertising information, information about legal entities or individuals who are not the manufacturer or holder of the registration certificate for the drug on the internal and external packaging of the drug.