Monday, March 26 2018 16:44

ArmInfo.Armenia has long been preparing for the transition to prescription drug sales with the realization of the extreme need for this reform for scientific reasons.  However, each time on this way there were certain obstacles, but today came the moment when you cannot delay, otherwise the consequences will be irreversible. The Tsarukyan faction during the thematic hearings in the National Assembly of Armenia initiated  this, Deputy Minister of Health Sergey Khachatryan said.

He stressed that over-the-counter sales of medicines cause serious  problems for both patients and the healthcare sector as a whole. At  the same time, the deputy minister agreed that there are a lot of  problems in the republic that make it difficult to implement this  reform and create both technical and social difficulties for the  population.

According to Khachatryan, in order to avoid many problems, the  Ministry decided to implement this reform in three stages: the first  stage of the prescription sale of antibiotics; the second stage - the  prescription sale of injectable preparations; and since October this  year the republic will completely switch to selling prescription  drugs. At the same time, the deputy minister assured that many  preparations will be issued without a prescription after that - they  are antihistamines, various ointments, soothing plant origin, pain  killers, anti-inflammatory and antipyretic agents.

According to Khachatryan, after the implementation of the first stage  of the program, complaints of citizens were significantly reduced  from March 1 of the current year, thanks to the steps taken by the  Ministry. The deputy minister also noted that the system of  prescription drug sales in Armenia is not new - 1 million 800  thousand - 2 million prescriptions are issued each year in the  republic.

Nevertheless, the deputy minister was not able to give a clear answer  to the specific questions posed by the participants in the hearings.  For example, the question of the procedure for selling drugs to  tourists remains open. There were also complaints about the shortage  of therapists in the outpatient clinics of the republic, leaving  patients for weeks to wait for consultations with the sole purpose of  getting a prescription for the purchase of the medicine. "It turns  out that a patient who urgently needs medical treatment, unable to  buy the medication he needs, has to make an appointment for a  consultation with the therapist for a week, and often for several  weeks, and as a result will get to him with a neglected illness. The  question is, in what case is a greater harm to the health of the  patient, if he is given a medicine without a prescription, or when he  gets to see a doctor late and with a neglected illness," one of the  participants of the hearings asked.

The deputy minister's answer was disappointing: "In urgent cases,  when you do not want to wait for a free consultation at an outpatient  clinic, or if it's a day off, and you need a prescription, you can go  to the hospital, where specialists are always on duty." Khachatryan  "forgot" to remind that if the doctor's consultation is free in the  republican outpatient clinics, then in the hospital it will cost the  patient 5-10 thousand drams ($ 10- $ 20), and if you add to this the  cost of a taxi (it is assumed that the heavy patient who urgently  needs medical treatment, it will be difficult to get to the hospital  by public transport), then the "emergency" consultation indicated by  the deputy minister will cost a round sum, and this without taking  into account the cost of the medicines themselves.

The next problem, not received by the Ministry's attention and a  clear answer from the deputy minister, is the difficulty in obtaining  prescriptions for rural residents of the republic, since in many  small communities there are no outpatient clinics or doctors. It  turns out that a patient with a temperature should go to the nearest  city for consultation with a doctor with the sole purpose of getting  a prescription for the purchase of the appropriate medication.

Agreeing with the presence of all these problems, however,  Khachatryan said that all these "issues" are not a reason for  stopping the reform initiated by the Ministry.