Russians have doubled spending on vitamins in a year

Against the backdrop of the pandemic, Russians began to actively buy vitamins and dietary supplements. Experts warn

Over the year, sales of vitamins and dietary supplements (BAA) increased two and a half times, according to the data of the Sber Eapteka online pharmacy. In June 2022 alone, sales growth in the category amounted to 25%, and vitamin C turned out to be the most popular among Russians.

The study compared the calendar periods from July 2020 to June 2021 and from July 2021 to June 2022.

Among vitamins and dietary supplements, sales growth records were set by:

www. preparations that contain vitamin C (an increase of 2.7 times over the period); preparations that contain vitamin D (an increase of 2.4 times over the period); magnesium preparations (2.4 times); multivitamins (growth twice over the period).

In the first six months of 2022, vitamin C became the most popular among Russians. Preparations with its content were included in every second order - 50% of the sales of all vitamins and dietary supplements, follows from the data of Sber Eapteki. The second most popular is vitamin D, every fourth (26%) purchased such medicines. In third place are magnesium preparations and multivitamins (12% each).

Compared to the second half of 2021, the volume of sales of vitamin and dietary supplements packages in RUSSIA increased by 16%.

A draft law on the online sale of prescription drugs was submitted to the State Duma Society

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The executive DIRECTOR of the Russian Association of Pharmacy Chains, Nelli Ignatieva, assessing the data provided by Sber Eapteka, in a conversation with RBC, suggested that we are talking about "the growth of the dietary supplement consumption culture." In addition, she called the pandemic a significant factor, due to which vitamins that strengthen immunity were in demand in the first place.

Director of the HSE Institute of HEALTH Economics Larisa Popovich, in a conversation with RBC, also suggested that anxiety over covid-19 has become the main factor in the growth in demand for vitamins and dietary supplements. “Mass information about the horrors of covid greatly increased the anxiety of the population and the desire to find a“ silver bullet ”for salvation. At the same time, since there was practically no information about effective medicines for prevention, the population began to buy what was familiar - antibiotics, vitamins, dietary supplements and any antiviral agents that were advertised in the media, ”she states. In addition, Popovich notes, Russians are characterized by a craving for self-treatment, due, among other things, to distrust in the healthcare system.

“Another reason is the weak educational work on what vitamins are, and even more so other dietary supplements, in which cases their intake is necessary, and when it can be harmful. And how often do doctors tell you about the need to check the level of microelement saturation of your body before buying vitamins? How many health professionals do we have who can give the right advice about the right nutrients based on detailed analysis? And is everyone ready to pay for such an analysis? So our people go “at random”, buying what a neighbor, pharmacist or blogger advises. And it's very dangerous. Vitamins are needed, but only the right ones, the ones you need, and in the right combination and the right dosage, ”the expert emphasizes.

At the end of July, the government submitted a bill to the State Duma providing for a three-year experiment on the online sale of prescription drugs in three regions - in Moscow, in the Belgorod and Moscow regions. It is proposed to start the experiment from March 2023. When selling medicines online, pharmacies will be required to verify the identity of the citizen to whom the prescription was issued with the person to whom the drug will be delivered.