The Parliament discussed with the I reading and approved with 75 votes the Draft Law on Medicine and Pharmaceutical Activity, envisaging the admission of the reference price formation at the legal level. The Draft was introduced to the plenary session by the First Deputy Health Minister, Tamar Gabunia.

“The changes concern the introduction of the reference prices to improve accessibility to the medicines. The reference price implies the establishment of the upper margin of the price on medicine and the sale of the medicine at the price exceeding the hereof margin would not be allowed”.

According to her, the reference price is well approved in 36 European countries, including in the post-Soviet countries and beyond Europe, in Canada, South Africa, Vietnam etc.

“The experience of all these countries provides that the reference price reduces the expenses on the medicines on a certain group of drugs, makes them more accessible for the population, thus, improving the healthcare costs; its application in Georgia is recommended by the World Bank and WHO experts; we cooperate with them to improve the mechanism and select the medicines for the first stage of the process; we create the opportunities within the Ministry and other regulatory bodies to ensure the sustainability of the reference prices”, - she noted.

The changes also apply to other issues, including the wholesale distribution of medicines without holding GDP and GMP certificates; the absence of the certificates is subject to sanctions. The establishment of the reference prices requires enforcement mechanisms and thus, respective changes are to be introduced to other Laws, including the Law on Control of Entrepreneurial Activity, Law on Enforcement Proceedings, and the Tax Code.

As the reporter noted, the reference prices shall apply to about 1000-1200 types of medicines at the first stage, which will lead us to an approximately 40% reduction in the prices of medicines.

The Government intends to gradually extend the application within the reasonable terms.