Russian President Vladimir Putin raised the issue of providing medicines to patients with COVID-19. The Cabinet of Ministers also worked on the issue of the availability of drugs.
"The government has developed a proposal to provide drugs to people who suffer from coronavirus in a mild form and are treated on an out-patient basis. The Cabinet of Ministers came to the conclusion that medicines for the treatment of COVID-19 should be provided free of charge," Vladimir Putin said during a meeting with government members.
According to the president, it was planned to allocate 5 billion rubles for these purposes. "You can't delay it. I know that the issue has already been discussed and a decision has been made. Therefore, the funds need to be allocated immediately," Vladimir Putin emphasized.
The Russian Ministry of Health approved the use of six drugs for the treatment of COVID-19: favipiravir, hydroxychloroquine, azithromycin (in combination with hydroxychloroquine), interferon-alpha, remdesivir and umifenovir. FAS previously recorded prohibitively high prices for Favipiravir, which was sold for 12 thousand rubles. However, the cost should drop twice after registration.
During a meeting in the government Vladimir Putin said that 10 billion rubles will be allocated to the Russian regions to support measures to combat COVID-19.
Photo: from open sources