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Regulator suggests measures to make HIV meds more affordable in Russia

In October 2015, representatives of 19 non-profit organizations to combat HIV appealed to Prime Minister Dmitry Medvedev to introduce compulsory licensing of antiretroviral drugs

© Ruslan Shamukov/ITAR-TASS

MOSCOW, February 19. /TASS/. Russia’s Federal Antimonopoly Service (FAS) wants to introduce obligatory licensing of medicines to combat HIV in Russia to make them more affordable for the population, Lesya Davydova, head of the international economic department of the FAS said on Friday.

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Currently, the prices for such medicines are quite high in Russia, which makes the medical treatment unaffordable for a large number of people. At the same time most of the anti-virus medicines are produced abroad and don’t have Russian analogues, she said.

Davydova said that in South Africa after the compulsory licensing of certain drugs (in particular those fighting HIV) the cost of treatment reduced tenfold.

"So here we also see a lot of work we could do,"- she said.

In October 2015, representatives of 19 non-profit organizations to combat HIV appealed to Prime Minister Dmitry Medvedev to introduce compulsory licensing of antiretroviral drugs for the treatment of this disease.

In early February, the founder of the Pharmasyntez pharmaceutical company Vikram Puniya addressed to Russian President Vladimir Putin with a proposal to apply the mechanism of forced licensing of hepatitis drugs. Puniya also referred to the experience of the BRICS countries in this field. Putin promised to analyze the legal side of the case, and if such practice exists in other countries, to consider the proposal.

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Regulator urges simplified access of medicines registered in US, EU to Russia

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