On July 31, a press conference was held in Bishkek to showcase the expanded functionality of the “Dary-Darmek” mobile application. Developers and representatives of the Ministry of Health of the Kyrgyz Republic spoke about new services designed to make information about medicines more accessible to the public. According to Asel Turdalieva, Chief Specialist of the Department of Medicines Policy and Licensing of the Ministry of Health, the app allows users to quickly obtain information on medicine prices and monitor their compliance with government regulations. The Ministry continues its policy of regulating the prices of essential medicines and informing citizens about the maximum prices beyond which pharmacies are not allowed to sell medicines.

      Deputy Director of the Department of Medicines Supply and Medical Equipment, Mariam Zhankorozova, emphasized that the restrictions apply to medicines from the approved list, excluding psychotropic, narcotic drugs, and those with an import cost under 100 soms. The pricing mechanism is designed so that more expensive medicines have a smaller retail markup.

      The application’s developer, Mirbek Kuduretov, noted that users can now submit complaints about inflated prices by simply scanning a receipt via their phone. These complaints are automatically sent to the Antimonopoly Service, which conducts inspections and takes action. In addition, “Dary-Darmek” helps users find pharmacies that have the required medicine in stock and report any side effects from the drugs. The developers stress that work on the application is ongoing, and new useful features will be introduced in the near future.

   “Dary-Darmek” is available for download in popular app stores. For inquiries, the FOMS hotline is available at 113.

Resource: official website o f the Ministry of Health of Kyrgyz Republic