Azernews.Az

By Amina Nazarli

The government of Azerbaijan intends to complete the process of regulating drug prices by the end of June.

The government began to pay a special attention to sale of medicines in its pharmacies starting from last September, and Tariff Council began to adjust and approve prices for a number of medicines.

The country has registered more than 10,000 kinds of medicines and Tariff Council has approved the prices of 7,075 kinds.

New prices for 5,741 drugs are already in force, and they should be sold according to the approved prices. Prices for 1,334 medicines will enter into force from June 1.

Establishing single prices for medicines is aimed to improve the level of medical services provided to the population and combating price gouging.

On Tariff (Price) Council website (www.tariff.gov.az ) in “Medicines” tab one can get acquainted with the list of approved drugs.

Medicinal products whose prices have been approved by the Council and entered into force, should be sold at these prices in all pharmacies across the country.

In case consumers face with different prices on approved medicines, they are advised to call the information center of the Economy Ministry 195-2 or 498-15-01 and 498-15-04 of the State Service for Antimonopoly Policy and Consumer Protection under the Ministry.

All medicines imported to Azerbaijan are examined before reaching pharmacies and hospitals. The country bans the import of medicines into the country without a license, permission, or other relevant documents.

A total of 57 percent of medicines registered in Azerbaijan are produced in Europe, 26 percent in the CIS countries, including 12 percent made in Russia. The small proportion is the medicine produced in Asian countries.

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Amina Nazarli is AzerNews’ staff journalist, follow her on Twitter: @amina_nazarli

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