The Ministry of Health of Tajikistan rejected the statement about the overestimation of prices for Iranian medicines in Tajikistan.

A month ago, the media reported that the head of the Iranian Ministry of Health, Bahram Aynullahi, said that Iranian medicines sold in Tajikistan cost 20 times more expensive than in Iran.

According to him, he himself saw how Iranian medicines are sold at significantly inflated prices in Tajik pharmacies.

Aynullahi also criticized the lack of attention to the problem of smuggling Iranian medicines and stressed the need to strengthen controls.

However, the Ministry of Health and Social Protection of the Population of the Republic of Tajikistan rejects these accusations.

In response to a request from Asia-Plus, the agency stated that information about a 20-fold overestimation of prices for Iranian medicines is not true. However, the Ministry of Health did not provide any evidence – prices for certain types of drugs in pharmacies in the country in comparison with prices in Iran.

At the same time, the agency explained that there is no state regulation of prices for medicines in Tajikistan, and the market is regulated through consumer demand.

The Ministry of Health added that the share of Iranian medicines in the pharmaceutical market of Tajikistan is no more than 5%, which excludes a monopolistic position in any pharmacological group.

"If there are signs of monopolization in the country, the Antimonopoly Service under the Government of the Republic of Tajikistan monitors the situation," it was noted here.

Currently, 64 domestic enterprises are operating in Tajikistan, producing 592 types of medicines and medical devices. There are a total of 346 product names on the market.

Of these enterprises, 24 are located in the capital Dushanbe, 12 in Khatlon region, 12 in Sughd region, 6 in Gorno-Badakhshan Autonomous Region and 10 more operate in various cities and districts of the republic.