Government to take control of medicines’ prices, quality – NRCU
Prime Minister Mykola Azarov said this on Tuesday, when familiarizing himself with the work of the Laboratory for Medicines Quality Control in Kyiv region, the government portal reported. The Prime Minister said that, out of 500 companies operating in the domestic pharmaceutical market, 4 or 5 are large companies, which provide 70% of the medications, and all others are mediators. “The chain of intermediaries reaches 5 to 6 companies. At each stage, the price of medications rises and control over their quality is reduced. We need to restore order in this area, and we will do that,” Mykola Azarov assured. The Prime Minister reminded that in 2010 the Cabinet decided on retooling the State Service of Ukraine on Medicines. Up-to-date equipment was purchased for three laboratories. According to Azarov, this will help strengthen control over the quality of both imported and domestic drugs, as well as protect consumers from substandard pharmaceutical products. “2012 will be a watershed in terms of fight with forged medical products in our market, because our service is now provided with all the necessary equipment,” the head of government said. Azarov added that, during his visit to the Laboratory for Medicines Quality Control and rapid tests, he got convinced that a large number of substandard medicines are sold in the domestic market. The Prime Minister promised to take this situation under control and remedy it. The system of laboratory control over drugs quality is a nationwide network of 27 laboratories located in each administrative unit of the state. One of them, in Kyiv region, was visited by Prime Minister Mykola Azarov on April 17. With the government’s support, in 2010 the process of retooling these laboratories with modern equipment began to be completed in 2015.