Uzbekistan expands pharmaceutical reforms with price cuts and digital prescriptions

President Shavkat Mirziyoyev reviewed proposals aimed at improving the healthcare system, raising the quality of medical services, and increasing the effectiveness of ongoing reforms during a presentation on January 20, according to the presidential press service. The briefing included an update on the development of the pharmaceutical sector and measures to ensure the population has access to high-quality and reasonably priced medicines.

Officials reported that 156 pharmaceutical projects with a total value of $2.3 billion are currently being implemented across the sector. In 2025 alone, the industry attracted $362 million in foreign investment and created more than 2,400 new jobs.

Pharmaceutical enterprises produced goods worth UZS 7.3 trillion and exported medicines and related products to 55 countries, generating $220 million in export revenue.

For the first time, businesses have begun organizing domestic production of 130 imported medicines through technology transfer arrangements, marking a significant step toward import substitution.

As part of broader pricing reforms, reference prices for 2,000 imported medicines were revised, resulting in a 40–60 percent reduction in wholesale prices. The move is intended to ease cost pressures on patients and healthcare providers while improving market transparency.

During the presentation, the president stressed the need to further enhance the quality and affordability of domestically produced medicines, create favorable conditions for investors, expand production and laboratory capacity, and establish a transparent and effective quality control system.

The price review follows earlier announcements by Abdulla Azizov, director of the Agency for the Development of the Pharmaceutical Industry, who said last autumn that reference prices would be revised. At the time, authorities expected average prices for about 2,500 medicines to fall by 40–60 percent.

In parallel, Uzbekistan is continuing to digitize pharmaceutical services. From December 10, 2025, electronic prescriptions were introduced in Tashkent, Samarkand, and 14 other cities and districts. The system currently covers 12,815 medicine names and dosage forms, which can now be sold in pharmacies only on the basis of an electronic prescription with a special QR code.