Belarus has not reduced social protection for the population in healthcare amid the global crisis

April 8, Vitebsk / Sergei Kochetov - BELTA /. Amid the global financial crisis, Belarus has not reduced the degree of social protection of the population in the healthcare sector. This was stated by Deputy Minister of Health of Belarus Valery Shevchuk, speaking at the VIII Congress of Pharmacists of Belarus, which is taking place today in Vitebsk, according to a BELTA correspondent. "Citizens of Belarus are still protected by state medical support programs, and social guarantees for the provision of medicines have not changed," Valery Shevchuk emphasized. Today, more than 6,000 types of medicines are registered in Belarus, which allows for the full provision of the treatment process with adequate pharmacotherapy. In 2009, 356 new medicines were registered, about a third of which are drugs from domestic manufacturers. "The dynamics of recent years indicate that we have an increasing number of domestically produced drugs," the deputy minister noted. The country has a successfully functioning pharmacy network, which includes more than 2,500 pharmacies, about 65% of which are state-owned. The provision of pharmacy institutions is 1 per 6,000 population, with a social standard of 1 pharmacy per 8,000 people. At the same time, an important task is the organization of pharmacies in medical institutions. In 2009, the growth in sales of medicines was 105% at comparable prices, with every second package of medicines in the pharmacy assortment being of domestic production. -0-