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This week, the government approved a new decree regulating the process of providing free medicines. This initiative aims to simplify citizens’ access to necessary medications for outpatient treatment, as well as to reimburse pharmacies’ expenses through state funding.
How does the program work?
The prescription of medicines to patients is carried out by a primary healthcare physician, most often at district clinics. An important condition for participating in the program is that the physician must have a contract with the State Health Insurance Fund. Only doctors who have signed this contract will be able to prescribe medicines under the program.
The entire prescription process will transition to an electronic format. The physician will prepare the prescription in a medical information system, indicating up to three medicines for each diagnosis. This approach helps optimize treatment and makes the prescription process transparent and easy to monitor.
Prescription validity period
The electronic prescription has a limited validity period — only 7 calendar days from the date of issuance. This means that the patient must visit the pharmacy within a week to collect the prescribed medications.
Receiving medicines at pharmacies
After the physician issues the electronic prescription and it is approved in the system, the information is transmitted to pharmacies that have signed a contract with the Fund. The patient automatically receives an SMS notification with the prescription number and the date it was issued. This simplifies the process of receiving medicines, as the patient knows immediately when they can pick up their medications.
Payment for medications
The program provides for the reimbursement of pharmacies’ expenses for the medicines provided to patients. Pharmacies supply the medicines to patients free of charge, and their costs will be covered by the Fund based on invoices specifying the prices of the medications.
System testing
It should be noted that the system has not yet been fully launched. In the near future, testing of the program is planned, after which its full implementation will begin. This is an important phase that will help identify potential issues and improve cooperation between medical institutions, pharmacies, and government structures.
The implementation of this program is an important step towards accessible and quality healthcare for citizens, and successful testing will enable it to become a full-fledged part of Uzbekistan’s healthcare system.
The article may contain inaccuracies as it is translated by AI. For more details, please refer to the Russian version of the article. If you notice any inaccuracies, you can send corrections via the Telegram bot: Uzvaibik_bot.
