Health Minister: import of medical drugs from Turkey has “significantly” decreased prices
Azarashvili noted the opponents of the move had questioned the quality of the pharmaceuticals manufactured in Turkey, pointing out the imported products were of “very high quality”. Photo: Health Ministry/Facebook
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Import of medications from the Turkish market has “significantly” decreased the prices of “dozens” of medical products in Georgia, Health Minister Zurab Azarashvili said on Saturday.
In comments on the recent initiative to import the products from Turkey, Azarashvili noted the opponents of the move had questioned the quality of the pharmaceuticals manufactured in Turkey, pointing out the imported products were of “very high quality”.
The initiative for importing medical drugs from the Turkish market came last year from Georgian Prime Minister Irakli Garibashvili, who cited the considerable gap between the cost of the drugs produced using the Good Manufacturing Practices standard on the Turkish market in comparison with their cost in Georgia.
In March, Garibashvili estimated the medication prices in the country had been reduced by 60-80 percent as a result of the first batches of pharmaceuticals imported.
In his comments on Saturday, the Health Minister also highlighted the Georgian Government’s efforts to assist Ukrainian people in the wake of Russian aggression. The Government has sent humanitarian aid to Ukraine, while the Ukrainian citizens in Georgia have been offered emergency medical services free of charge, Azarashvili added.
A humanitarian aid package for Ukraine has been collected throughout Georgia following a decision by the Prime Minister, with 100 tons of aid prepared to be dispatched to the country on the backdrop of Russia's invasion.
Georgian Health Minister Zurab Azarashvili and his Turkish counterpart Fahrettin Koca have agreed on an “even closer” cooperation between the countries in the field of medical services and pharmaceuticals, the Georgian Health Ministry announced on Wednesday.
General prices for medicines on the Georgian local market have been reduced by 60-80 percent following the import of medications from Turkey, Georgian Prime Minister Irakli Garibashvili said earlier today.
Georgian Prime Minister Irakli Garibashvili has appointed Zurab Azarashvili new Minister of Health of Georgia. Azarashvili held the position of Deputy Defense Minister until now.
General paediatricians in Georgia will be able to only prescribe generic medications to their patients, without specifying a brand of the drug, starting next month, Georgian Health Minister Zurab Azarashvili said on Sunday.
About 200 types of Good Manufacturing Practices (GMP)-standard drugs, imported from Turkey, will be available on the Georgian market in about a month, Deputy Health Minister Ilia Gudushauri said on Monday.
Prescribing psychotropic medications will only be allowed electronically starting April 11 in Georgia, the Ministry of Health of Georgia announced on Tuesday.
Over 100,000 Georgian citizens have purchased drugs imported from Turkey over the two months since the launch of the Government initiative to lower medication costs on the local market by importing products from Turkey, Health Minister Zurab Azarashvili said on Wednesday.
Georgia will receive its first order of the Continuous Glucose Monitoring system, enabling children patients with diabetes in the country to benefit from “one of the most accurate, high-quality and officially authorised” devices for a “painless management” of the disease, Health Minister Zurab Azarashvili said on Wednesday.
Georgia expresses “full solidarity” with Ukraine and is “gravely concerned” over the ongoing health emergency in the country caused by the continuing hostilities, Zurab Azarashvili, the Georgian Health Minister, said at the 75th World Health Assembly in Geneva, the Ministry announced on Wednesday.
Georgian citizens have saved ₾51 million ($17 mln/€16.6mln) since the beginning of imports of affordable medicines from the Turkish market that has caused a reduction of domestic prices, Georgia’s Deputy Health Minister Ilia Ghudushauri said on Sunday.
Georgian Health Minister Zurab Azarashvili on Monday said calculations showed Georgian customers would save about ₾200 million ($69 mln) thanks to the Government initiatives of importing medicines from the Turkish market and implementing reference prices on the domestic market this year.
Georgian Health Minister Zurab Azarashvili on Friday said Georgia had imported medications worth ₾6.4 million ($2 mln) from Türkiye in August, marking a “record-high figure” since Prime Minister Irakli Garibashvili’s initiation in January of the project on importing medical drugs from the country to ensure competitive prices on the domestic market.
Georgian health minister Zurab Azarashvili on Tuesday announced the launch of a new methodology for clinics involved in the state-funded general healthcare programme, in a bid to offer improved treatment efficiency and prevent patient over-treatment in medical services.
The costs of medical drugs are expected to decrease by 40 percent next year following the anticipated introduction of reference prices, the Georgian government administration announced on Wednesday.
A programme for post-stroke rehabilitation and recovery following head and spinal cord injuries will be added to the universal healthcare programme of Georgia, health minister Zurab Azarashvili said on Monday after the weekly government meeting.
Georgian prime minister Irakli Garibashvili on Monday said the government would ensure “strict response” to alleged cases of mislabelling of affordable drugs by pharmacies, following an “alarming information" of a drug store characterising lower-cost medicines as being of low quality to customers.
Georgian Prime Minister Irakli Garibashvili on Tuesday said medicine prices would be reduced by 40 percent in 2023 owing to setting the reference prices. In his annual report on the Government work, Garibashvili highlighted the significance of opening the Turkish market, as a result of which the prices of medicines decreased by 60-80 percent in the country.
Patients in western Georgia’s Black Sea region of Adjara will benefit from an increased funding for heart and bone marrow transplantation, with treatment of malignant tumour to be also “fully covered” within a new healthcare programme in the locality.
Georgian Health Minister Zurab Azarashvili on Friday said the existence of alternative institutions providing essential services for children with oncological diseases was “of vital importance”, adding that working in this direction has already started.
Georgian Health Minister Zurab Azarashvili on Friday said the reference prices set for medicines would come into effect on February 15 and all companies, importers, distributors or retailers would be required to establish a maximum upper limit accordingly.
Pharmaceutical companies, importers, distributors and retailers of medical drugs will be prohibited from selling medicines at prices exceeding the reference set by authorities starting February 15, the Georgian Government announced on Monday.
Georgian Prime Minister Irakli Garibashvili on Monday said the reference price mechanism, set to be introduced in a Government initiative across Georgia next month, would reduce the cost of medical drugs by an average of 40 percent.
Georgian Prime Minister Irakli Garibashvili on Monday criticised oil and food importers in the country for “very high profits” facilitated through prices added to the “real cost” of the products, and instructing several ministers to set up a working group to negotiate a reduction.
Zurab Azarashvili, the Georgian Health Minister, on Friday said the recent shortages of an epilepsy drug for children had been allegedly “artificially induced” by companies on the market with the aim of hiking the price on the product.
The Georgian Health Ministry on Friday said the prices of Turkish-imported medicines would not increase, adding Georgian companies would still be able to purchase them at lower prices on the Turkish pharmaceutical market and import them to Georgia, on the backdrop of increased prices in Turkey.