Lithuanian Pharmaceutical Care Services Development Project – One of the Most Promising
The World Bank selected Lithuania’s pilot project, “Expansion of Additional Patient-Centered Pharmaceutical Care Services Provided by Pharmacists,” as one of the most promising initiatives from more than twenty submissions from different countries. This means that World Bank experts will work closely with the ministry over the coming year to help develop and implement the pilot project, which aims to strengthen the accessibility and quality of pharmaceutical care services in Lithuania.
According to Vice-Minister of Health Daniel Naumovas, this partnership is an important step for Lithuania, opening up opportunities to implement advanced pharmaceutical care services that improve patients’ medication experience, encourage more active involvement in the treatment process, and strengthen the healthcare system.
"Closer collaboration between pharmacists and healthcare professionals would create conditions to improve the quality of healthcare services, better identify and manage medication-related issues, enhance the quality of life for patients with chronic diseases, and reduce waiting times to see healthcare professionals," says Daniel Naumovas.
In June, the Ministry of Health participated in an event organized by the World Bank in Berlin and presented the planned project to be implemented in Lithuania, which aims to create an effective collaboration model between pharmacists and healthcare professionals, that is, to expand the pharmaceutical care services provided by pharmacists.
It is expected that the implementation of the project will improve access to medicines in the country. For example, a patient prescribed treatment for a course longer than six months would not need to schedule an additional visit to the doctor, because after six months the pharmacist could provide a pharmaceutical care service for the continued dispensing of prescription medicines and decide whether the patient can continue receiving the prescribed medications or needs to be referred for a consultation with a doctor.
At the end of September, the first meeting with World Bank representatives took place in Vilnius. During the meeting, experts were presented with data collected by the State Data Agency and discussed how this data could be used, the operational model of the E-Health system, and the plan for further actions. During their visit, the World Bank representatives also visited Vilnius University, where they met with Vice-Rector Prof. Gintaras Valušis and Indrė Trečiokienė, Associate Professor at the Faculty of Medicine’s Institute of Biomedicine, Center for Pharmacy and Pharmacology.
During the visit to Lithuania, it was agreed that World Bank representatives will propose the most suitable collaboration model based on their experience and the data collected by the E-Health system and the State Data Agency, and will assess the usefulness and effectiveness of pharmaceutical care services. The partnership with the World Bank is planned until September 2026.
Ministry of Health Communications Department