More than 3,000 pharmacies in Uzbekistan received a warning due to artificial price inflation

Together with the working groups of the relevant authorized bodies, preventive work was carried out to strictly observe the established trade markups and prevent artificial shortages, and the heads and employees of more than 3,000 pharmacies throughout the republic were warned in a written form.

In the second half of July and the first half of August alone, monitoring was carried out in more than 500 pharmacies throughout the country for the availability of medicines used in the treatment of patients with COVID-19 infection, as well as the level of retail prices for them.

It is noted that only 14 pharmacies out of those studied throughout the republic (Tashkent city, Andijan, Bukhara, Jizzakh, Namangan, Tashkent, Fergana and Khorezm regions) had Arbidol (Russia), Umifenovir (antiviral drug) and Arpeflu (Belarus ), and their stocks were 605 packages. 

Only 3 pharmacies could find the antimalarial drug Plaquenil, produced in Spain (only 12 packs – the Republic of Karakalpakstan, Samarkand and Tashkent regions).

The Consumer Rights Protection Agency sent letters to foreign manufacturers to clarify information about the supplies. According to them, Arbidol, Plaquenil and Kleksan, which are in high demand and have become scarce in pharmacies in recent months, were supplied to Uzbekistan in sufficient quantities.

If, in July, 29.1 thousand packages of Arbidol were delivered, then in August another 81.6 thousand were imported, which has already begun to arrive at pharmacies. According to the available data, the import price for Arbidol dropped on average from $2.2-13.5 to $1.8-12, depending on the dosage and packaging, compared to the beginning of the year.

If, in July, Plaquenil and Kleksan were not available for wholesale (due to an acute shortage), then already on August 1 thousand packs of Plaquenil and 42.9 thousand packs of Kleksan were imported and delivered to pharmacies. When studying import prices for these drugs, the price of Plaquenil remained at $21 per pack. The import price of Kleksan, depending on the dosage, increased from $4.2-37.44 to $4.7-44.2 per pack.