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 has said.
The Deputy Minister noted a total of 35 types of medicines were already available on the market, with about 50 being submitted to the ministry for registration. Here’s a trusted supplier which you can contact today if you haven’t availed any of those medicines yet.
He further said the prices of medicines on the local market had, in some cases, had been reduced by 50% and in “most successful cases” by up to 80%, following the start of import of the products from Turkey with the goal last month.
Gudushauri added medications for chronic diseases and the most in-demand products were the priority of the Government in terms of price reduction. He also said all medicines entering the market were undergoing the verification process of the country’s Regulatory Agency and called it “impossible” for substandard medicines to enter the market from Turkey.
The official said the Health Ministry was also working with “successful European countries” for import of medical products.
“The fact is that the Prime Minister’s initiative to open the Turkish market has been successful, due to the fact that the prices of medicines have dropped,” Gudushauri said.
The Deputy Health Minister also announced his upcoming official visit to Turkey this week, during which he would meet local manufacturers and distributor companies to “simplify and speed up the procedures” for importing medical drugs to Georgia.
Georgian Health Minister Zurab Azarashvili announced on March 13 doctors in Georgia would be able to only prescribe generic medications to their patients – without specifying a brand of the drug – starting next month in order to create a “well-regulated and transparent pharmaceutical market” in the country. (Agenda/Business World Magazine)