Health care is an issue that affects everyone, and expenses for medicines put a heavy burden on households in every country including Georgia. After change of the Georgia government in 2012, a number of major initiatives were developed by the new government (prohibition of the sale of drugs without prescription, announcing implementation of new accessible treatment for hepatitis C patients, implementation of the universal health care program, signing an agreement with a new International Consulting Group of Global Alliance, in order to reform the health care system and increase the access for Georgian population to quality medicines) A new pharma company, Humanity Georgia, has entered the Georgian market. The company's announced strategy is to import cheap but good-quality medications, construct a pharmaceutical factory, and produce and export medications. Currently, however, it is limited to working with hospitals. Taking into consideration all recent happenings, it’s important to shed light on the current situation of the pharmaceutical market and its impact on patients and citizens of Georgia.

This project is the result of GIPA students’ independent work during the Advanced Reporting and Writing Class. Curators: Tiko Tsomaia, Dave Bloss. Special thanks to Tina Turdziladze, project consultant for "Health Policy Monitoring for Quality and Accessible Medicines", whose desk review on the quality and accessibility of medicines was prepared and shared with students. The project is implemented with support from Open Society Georgia Foundation.

Hopefully this project will serve as a source for many media outlets and interested parties to looking for reliable information on medicines and health care.