You're reading: Medvedev orders to form medicine reserves amid hard currency problems

Gorki -- Russian Prime Minister Dmitry Medvedev has ordered the Health Ministry to prevent a deficit of medicines amid the negative economic setting.

“We must have reserves. The Health Ministry needs to decide what these reserves will be, either for three or for six months. They [the reserves] will have to be replenished as soon as it is necessary to hold new contests and to buy new medicines in the area of responsibility of the Russian Federation and regions. You must control this,” Medvedev told Health Minister Veronika Skvortsova.

He said he had signed a resolution regarding the supply of vital medicines to the civilian population a short time ago.

“Indeed, this is a concern of a certain number of people in this country even under regular circumstances, and now we have some problems with hard currency and procurement of foreign medicines,” the premier said.

Skvortsova said that the document contained a new list of vital medicines, which had grown by 50 to 608 types.

“Sixty-seven percent of 608 medicines (413) are either made in Russia or their production is localized in the RF,” the minister said.

In her words, all regions of Russia possess sufficient reserves of vital medicines.

“Currently, all regions of Russia have reserves of necessary medicines. Seventy-one regions have reserves for at least 4.5 months of this year and the other regions have reserves sufficient for 1.5 to two months,” Skvortsova said, adding that her ministry was interacting with regions possessing smaller reserves “in a manual mode.”

She said the ministry was tasked to enlarge the amount of medicines and medicine substances produced in Russia.

“The Industry and Trade Ministry and the Health Ministry are planned to begin the creation of ten new substances for treating cancer in 2015,” Skvortsova said.