Medicine import substitution hasn't to be carried out at any cost - Putin
MOSCOW. Dec 10 (Interfax) - There are no plans to refuse from medicines, which are not produced in Russia; the point is to manufacture serious medicines in this country, but not to replace them as part of import substitution at any cost, Russian President Vladimir Putin said.
"As for foreign-made medicines, here, the point is not that we want to replace them as part of import substitution at any cost, but we should understand that we should be independent and we ourselves should produce some elementary things. And, not only elementary, but also serious medications," Putin said at a meeting of the Russian Presidential Human Rights Council (HRC) on Tuesday.
The pharmaceutical industry is developing, the corresponding program is being pursued, he said. "And, it is necessary to say that the industry is working better and better every day. We are inviting here, and major international pharmaceutical companies are launching more and more production facilities in our country. In fact, they are working and working very well here in our territory," the Russian president said.
"However, this absolutely does not mean that we refuse from those medicines, which we ourselves do not produce. In my view, certain decisions, which will unblock the delivery of a number of medicines to the Russian customs area that were forbidden and created really acute problems to people, specifically to efforts to support children who need this backing, have recently been made," Putin added.
This work will be continued, the president said. "Don't think that someone is seeking to stop the imports, only because someone is thriving on that here. No, here, the problem is more complicated than it actually seems to be at first sight. There are also those who are lobbying foreign medicines and doing so unscrupulously," Putin said.
This problem can hardly be settled at once, he added. "However, all we are doing certainly should benefit people," the president said.
At the meeting, HRC member Yekaterina Vinokurova addressed the issue of Russia's lacking medicines, which are required for severely ill children, as well as the problems faced by parents who are trying to bring medications, which are not registered in Russia, to this country.
A serious and tough lobby is behind the import substitution of medicines in Russia, she said. "Please, sort it out, because our people should not die, mothers should not risk their life and health, delivering medicines for gravely ill children from abroad," Vinokurova said.