Georgian reforms for medicine accessibility “one of the best” - WHO Europe Director

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.

Kluge made the comment in his address at the 73rd session of the WHO Regional Committee for Europe in Kazakhstan, where he said price regulation and introduction of reference prices had allowed a 45-percent price decrease of oncology drugs in the country.

He also said the changes had doubled the capacity of consumers to purchase medicines in the country, and noted his meeting with the Georgian Health Minister Zurab Azarashvili that discussed reforms implemented in the pharmaceutical sector of the country.

Within the WHO session, Tamar Gabunia, the Deputy Health Minister of Georgia, also focused on the agenda of strengthening the domestic health security, fostering primary health care reform, construction of public health laboratories and increases in the capacity of the healthcare sector.

Gabunia also mentioned investments in improvements to funding of drugs for chronic disease and cancer in her comments.

The WHO session is involving the organisation’s leadership, health ministers and deputy ministers of European member states, high-level representatives of the European Commission and the UNICEF, with the event set to close on Thursday.