The availability of medicines in general

In Hungary, in-patient medicines are free of charge for patients. Out-patient medicines on the official list are covered basically by the Health Insurance Fund by 50 to 100%. This percentage depends on a decision made by a professional body which makes their decisions on the type of drug.

Elderly people with a low income and disabled people can receive a special card which entitles them to free medication. Finally, victims of employment injuries and occupational diseases also receive medicines free of charge.[1]

The availability of Alzheimer treatments

Except for galantamine, anti-dementia drugs are available in Hungary and are part of the reimbursement system (50% reimbursement). Prescriptions both for treatment initiation and for treatment continuation need to be filled in by specialist doctors. There are no restrictions governing the access of people living alone or in nursing homes to available Alzheimer treatments but continuous treatment must be guaranteed.

Since 1999 there have been several national guidelines for the diagnosis and treatment of Alzheimer’s disease. The 2006 guideline has been accepted by the Ministry of Health and prescribes a number of diagnostic examinations (MMSE, Laboratory tests and either a CT or MRI scan).

Since 2003, special dementia centres have been set up (at the time of print, the number of these centres was 84) which are led by neurologists or psychiatrists. Physicians of these centres have the right to prescribe donepezil, rivastigmine and memantine with reimbursement.

[1] European Commission (2006): MISSOC – Mutual information system on social protection : Social protection in the Member States of the European Union, of the European Economic Area and in Switzerland : Comparative tables