Number of medicines sold under reference prices increased to 2,300
Reference prices would be expanded to be applied to about 7,000 medicines until the end of the year. Photo: Nino Alavidze/Agenda.ge
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The number of medicines sold through the system of reference pricing across Georgia has been increased to 2,300, the Government Administration announced on Thursday.
The Administration said the list now included antihypertensive, anticoagulant, antihistaminic, antibiotic, gastrointestinal, analgesic and anti-inflammatory drugs.
It added reference prices would be expanded to be applied to about 7,000 medicines until the end of the year.
Costs of medical drugs are expected to decrease by 40 percent with their inclusion in the reference price system that was initiated by Prime Minister Irakli Garibashvili.
The Georgian Government’s Interagency Commission has been authorised to set wholesale prices for select pharmaceutical products by Prime Minister Irakli Garibashvili, in the latest move designed to effect a reduction of domestic costs of medication.
The average cost of about 800 medicines for chronic and oncological diseases will be reduced by 40 percent with the introduction of the reference pricing system starting today, Georgian Prime Minister Irakli Garibashvili announced on Wednesday.
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.
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.
Hans Kluge, the World Health Organisation’s Regional Director for Europe, has called reforms in Georgia for increasing accessibility to medicines “one of the best examples”, the Georgian Health Ministry said on Wednesday.
The Georgian Health Ministry on Tuesday said large pharmacy companies “artificially” increasing prices on medicines not yet covered by reference price policy was “unacceptable”.
Health Minister Zurab Azarashvili on Thursday said reference prices on medical drugs would be applied to additional 2,000 medicines in Georgia, starting next year.
The Georgian National Competition Agency on Friday announced it had fined four pharmaceutical companies ₾53 million ($19 mln) for price-fixing on oncology medicines funded within the state programme.
The Georgian Government on Monday announced an expansion in the drug programme for beneficiaries with chronic illnesses, as well as an increase in social assistance packages for disabled individuals, including children.