Children under three years of age in Belarus will be provided with medicines free of charge, and persons with disabilities of group 3 will receive a 50% discount.

On March 11, Minsk /BelTA/. Children under three years of age in Belarus will be provided with prescription drugs from the list of essential medicines free of charge, while Group 3 persons with disabilities will receive a 50% discount. This decision was made on March 11 by the President of Belarus, Alexander Lukashenko, following a meeting, BelTA was informed by the press service of the Head of State. The issue of providing citizens with medicines was the focus of the President's attention at the meeting. The Head of State recalled that the country has set a goal to reach 50% provision of the population with Belarusian-made medicines by the end of 2015. "It is not right when we import two-thirds or even more medicines from abroad. Thus, we are vulnerable in this important area today," the President said. Alexander Lukashenko noted that the production of medicines, as well as their import, is not cheap for the state. "Regarding the provision of medicines in general, everyone understands that this is a very expensive undertaking. Today, in addition to producing our own medicines, which is very costly, we import medicines worth half a billion dollars," the Head of State said. "But it should be added that people, in general, are used to living the Soviet way, forgetting that we no longer have the same country and that we do not have hydrocarbon raw materials or other raw materials that the Soviet Union could export and buy as many medicines as it wanted. Although this was also wasteful, as it turned out later. People do not value their health because it is free," the President believes. "Yes, medicines have a certain price, but we treat people mostly for free." Alexander Lukashenko added that all conditions have been created in the country for people to maintain their health. Minister of Health Vasily Zharko reported on the implementation of the Head of State's directive on providing the population with 50% of Belarusian medicines in value terms. He noted that the Department of the Pharmaceutical Industry under the Ministry of Health has been operating since January 1. "Tasks have been set, reviewed by the Presidium of the Council of Ministers, and the measures taken, I am sure, will allow us to fulfill the President's directive by 2015," the minister said.

Another important issue raised at the meeting concerned the preferential provision of medicines to socially vulnerable segments of the population. The President inquired in detail about how children, especially those of early age, up to three years old, are provided with medicines, as well as the overall issue of preferential drug provision.

"We made a decision at the time and announced that we would cease all preferential treatment, except for some items. What concerns me is not even that we are spending money on preferential categories of citizens, but that there was corruption here and medicines were going left and right through certain categories of people and ended up on the markets. We have managed, at least for the most part, to avoid such cases in our country. But I am very concerned about this," the Head of State noted. "Therefore, let's discuss the areas in which we should assist the population with preferential drug provision."

The President also clarified how the National Program for Demographic Security, which came into force a year ago, is being implemented.

As reported by the Minister of Labour and Social Protection, Marianna Shchetkina, lump-sum benefits for families upon the birth of a child increased last year.

The program provides for a change in 2012 in the mechanism for calculating monthly benefits for childcare for children under three years of age, linking the benefit amount to the average salary in the country and differentiating it depending on the birth order of children in families.

As the figures show, 1,300 more children were born last year than in 2010. However, statistics indicate that the majority of families (65%) have only one child.

Following the meeting, the President decided to grant the right to free provision of medicines, dispensed by prescription within the list of essential medicines, to children under three years of age. This list includes 402 items. This decision will significantly support families raising children.

According to Marianna Shchetkina, any abuse or manifestations of corruption in this case are impossible, as this procedure will apply to all families with children under three years of age.

In addition, a proposal was submitted to the Head of State for consideration to grant persons with Group 3 disabilities a 30% discount on medicines. Currently, persons with Group 1 and 2 disabilities receive a 90% discount on the purchase of medicines.

However, the President decided to increase the discount for persons with disabilities of group 3 to 50% on medicines from the list of essential medicines for the treatment of the disease that led to disability. -0-

BELTA