From 47 to 68: The List of Drugs and Medical Supplies in Strategic Reserves to be Reviewed

The Health Ministry is proposing a change to the government's decision number 2144-N, dated December 24, 2020. According to the current decision, the list of drugs and medical supplies included in the strategic reserves contains several medications that do not have state registration in Armenia or are no longer in use. Additionally, there is a need to revise the list, accumulation norms, and schedule for the drugs and medical supplies included in the strategic reserves.

The current list was established in 2020, but over the following years, the state registration of numerous medications in Armenia has expired. Furthermore, due to emergencies and martial law in other countries (particularly Russia and Ukraine), problems have arisen regarding the registration and importation of certain drugs into Armenia.

The necessity of adopting this draft is also driven by the situation caused by the COVID-19 pandemic, which has led to a shortage of raw materials and resources, including human resources, in many pharmaceutical companies, as well as logistical challenges.

Moreover, there are issues concerning the accumulation norms and schedules for drugs and medical supplies in the strategic reserves among various economic operators. The goal of the draft is to establish the list of drugs and medical supplies included in the strategic reserves and to regulate the accumulation norms and the timeline for these items.

The Ministry has developed a new list of drugs and medical supplies for strategic reserves. Instead of the previous 47 names of drugs and 51 names of medical supplies, the draft proposes 68 names of drugs and 58 names of medical supplies. The new list has been created following discussions with specialists and taking into account the needs that arose during the 44-day war. The list includes medications that have state registration in Armenia.