Abstract:
Background: Every year, the value of the world market of Food Supplements (FS) increases considerably, especially following the accepting the role of
nutrition in maintaining health. The share of official importers of medicinal products on FS market is not significant and the procedure for placing food
supplements on the market is not sufficiently regulated. All these conditions create major health risks for FS consumers.
Material and methods: In order to study the complexity of the field of food supplements and to highlight the existing problems in this field at the national
level, and also to determine the pharmacist’s role in releasing food supplements and counseling patients, was used comparative method for registering
the dietary supplements in Romania and the Republic of Moldova.
Results: The complex assessment of food supplements in the Republic of Moldova and Romania and elucidation of the pharmacist’s role in dispensing of
food supplements were carried out in order to prevent the abuse and non-rational use of the FS. For this reason it was carried out a comparative analysis
of the legal framework for FS in both mentioned countries and the study of the national food supplements market was performed according to the criteria
of the producers and importers that are present on the market.
Conclusions: Legislation on food supplements in the Republic of Moldova is incomplete and unsatisfactory formulated. The value of the food supplements
market is constantly increasing making this area attractive. The prevalence of economic interests over the medical interests may have adverse consequences
for the health of the population. The pharmacist has the primary role both in implementing the necessary legislative changes and in counseling patients
to prevent the non-conforming use of food supplements.
Description:
Vasile Procopisin Department of Social Pharmacy, Faculty of Pharmacy, Nicolae Testemitsanu State University of Medicine and Pharmacy, Chisinau, the Republic of Moldova