The place of dietary supplements in modern pharmacy and some aspects of legislative regulation of their circulation

Annotation. The widespread use of biologically active additives (BAIs) by the population, the growth of popularity and trust in this category of products determined the purpose of the work – to conduct a marketing analysis and determine the dynamics of dispensing dietary supplements from pharmacies at the regional level and outline individual aspects of changes in state regulation of their circulation. The database of dietary supplements inventory provided by the Vinnytsia pharmacy chain was subject to analysis. Individual aspects of changes in state regulation of dietary supplements circulation were studied based on data from regulatory documents. The data obtained were processed using Microsoft Excel. The results of our study indicate both an increase in the assortment and sale of dietary supplements in pharmacies in the city. Vinnytsia and are growing more dynamically compared to the range of medicines. Thus, compared to the range of medicines, which had a tendency to grow until 2022 (SKU – 8047) and 2023 (SKU – 8084), after which it slightly decreased (SKU – 7832), the range of dietary supplements demonstrates an annual stable growth from 1469 units in 2019 to 2322 units in 2024. Analysis of changes in the share of packages of different categories of inventory showed that in 2024 the share of medicines in the total mass reached 54.6%, which is lower compared to the peak value in 2022 (60.4%). At the same time, the share of dietary supplements in the total mass has been steadily growing every year (from 4.6% in 2019) and reached 8.3% in 2024, which is the highest value for the analyzed period. Analysis by SKU assortment in relation to their impact on individual organ systems shows the following trend in descending order: gastrointestinal tract (17%), genitourinary system (14%), ENT organs (8%) and immune system (7%); the smallest share of dietary supplements is for improving the function of the cardiovascular system (2%). Analysis of demand for dietary supplements in relation to their impact on individual organ systems shows a significant increase in demand for dietary supplements used to support the functions of the genitourinary system (by 1.71 times), to support the functions of the Central Nervous System (by 1.68 times), to improve the condition of the skin, hair, nails (by 1.54 times); a moderate increase – to support the functions of the musculoskeletal system (by 1.27 times), LOR organs (by 1.26 times), cardiovascular system (by 1.20 times) and a small increase in demand for dietary supplements used to optimize the functions of the gastrointestinal tract (by 1.15 times) and immune system functions (by 1.08 times). According to the Draft Law of Ukraine dated 01.07.2024 No. 11389 defines the criteria for registering dietary supplements with the Ministry of Health of Ukraine, to approve the list of vitamins and minerals, as well as other substances and their maximum permissible doses, a new one is also planned a procedure for providing notifications about their introduction into circulation. Therefore, improving the requirements for the circulation of dietary supplements in Ukraine and further harmonization of Ukrainian legislation with EU requirements require further scientific research and implementation.