Medication price witnesses decline by 60-80% as Georgian pharmacies get medicines from Turkey : PM

The Prime Minister of Georgia, Irakli Garibashvili, said earlier today that the prices of medication in the local Georgian market had been reduced by 60-80 per cent after the Government allowed the importation of medications from Turkey.

According to the head of Government, the importation of medical drugs and supplies from the Turkish-based pharmaceutical companies was aimed to reduce the prices of medicines available in the local Georgian markets. This initiative has forced down the costs for the most demanded medical drugs.

Moreover, medical products such as supplies and drugs for Cardiovascular diseases (CVDs) had tremendously decreased from 220 GEL (about $68/€61) to 48 GEL ($14/€13), PM Garibashvili pointed out among other examples.

Garibashvili also stated that dozens of types of medicines had been submitted to the Georgian Health Ministry for registration, saying, “this procedure will be accelerated very soon in order to give the people a choice to buy more affordable medicines.”

Furthermore, he also emphasised the importance of the imported medications’ quality, noting that all the products imported from Turkey were produced using the Good Manufacturing Practices (GMP) standard. 

The PM thanked Georgian Health Minister Zurab Azarashvili for his efforts in the initiative, according to the Government Administration. The Prime minister stated Azarashvili was scheduled to travel to Turkey on Monday to meet with his counterpart and for further work on the matter.

Garibashvili also highlighted his team’s initiative to ensure a reduction in general pharmaceutical prices for residents at the end of last year, citing the considerable gap between the cost of the drugs produced using GMP on the Turkish market and in Georgia. 

On February 14, the Georgian Government has decided to allow the importation of medicines from turkey while trying to cool down the prices of the drugs in the country in the coming weeks, which will prove to be a respite for the masses and promote the competitive forces in the country. 

The Government, meanwhile, has reduced the period for obtaining the licence from 45 days to 7 days for prospective importers, thereby facilitating them with the removal of the procedural and regulatory barriers to expedite the importation process.

The pharma industry globally has been under immense pressure since the dawn of the pandemic. Countries have been under tremendous pressure as far as supplies of the pharmaceuticals. Global trade of pharma products comes as a rescue out of this deficit situation.