The Ministry of Health is working on a new reform to reduce medicine prices which means establishing reference prices. According to the new rule, the state will set an upper limit at what price medicines should be sold or imported. Prices should be determined by a specific formula based on a comparison with other countries. Reference prices will be applied mainly to those medicines that are financed by the state. These are medicines for chronic and oncological diseases.
According to the minister's explanation, from January 2023, reference prices will already be set for the medical products intended for the treatment of chronic and oncological diseases, and at the next stage, the reference price will be extended to the entire market.
"Experts who were involved in the successful implementation of this project in other countries are working with us. Referent countries are selected based on their recommendations. Countries are determined based on their geographical location and economic parameters. 5-7 countries have already been selected, I don't know how many of these countries will be selected. Prices for medicines will be the reference price for us, which will include transportation and various logistics expenditures", - Zurab Azarashvili declares.
