Medicine Prices May Change Again in Kazakhstan

Only this time, they could decline, Orda.kz reports. 

Unreasonably high prices for imported medicines were raised at a government meeting by Prime Minister Olzhas Bektenov.

Health Minister Akmaral Alnazarova states that excessively high costs lead to unreasonable price increases.

The department plans to optimize them. The Ministry issued an order limiting the difference in price between generics and original medicines to 30%. This applies to medicines purchased by the state. 

To regulate the prices of imported medicines, the Ministry is integrating with the KEDEN information system of the Ministry of Finance. We expect that if we fully complete the integration at the beginning of next year, we will see the prices of imported medicines upon entering Kazakhstan. This will also allow us to regulate the prices of drugs within the country, Alnazarova said.  

According to the Minister, the republican budget expenditures on drug provision at the outpatient and inpatient levels amount to 474 billion tenge, and the local budget expenditures – 26.7 billion tenge.

Medicinal provision at the outpatient level covers 3.5 million patients and costs 251 billion tenge for 120 nosologies.

Original Author: Ilya Astakhov