The Drug Agency approved the import of the drug "Favipiravir", which according to the tests gave positive results in the treatment of Covid-19. The director of MALMED, Lirim Shabani, announced today at the morning briefing on Slobodna TV that the medicine is expected to arrive from Turkey soon, while we will have to wait for the original that should arrive from Japan.

In the last two weeks, the Agency for Drugs has received several requests from hospitals and pharmaceutical companies for the import of the drug Favipiravin. We as an agency immediately acted in accordance with the procedures we have prescribed. We also addressed the Commission for Infectious Diseases and received a report of justification from doctors and infectologists and when it was all completed, on Friday we approved the intervention import of the drug Favipiravir, said Shabani.

He stressed that it is a drug that was registered in Japan six years ago and is used to treat other diseases, but recent studies show that it helps treat Covid-19 and is used in many countries.

- Drugs that show good results in treating Covid are very difficult to find on world markets. The medicine will arrive in our country from Japan and Turkey. The original drug Avigan will arrive from Japan. The companies that need to bring it have approval, now it depends on the technical conditions when they will find it the fastest, and we need to keep in mind that Japan is far away, so it will take time for it to arrive. There are companies that bring the same medicine from Turkey, we expect it to arrive in our country sooner, said Shabani and stressed that both drugs are of the same quality regardless of that they come from different countries.

MALMED receives requests for import of the drug from pharmaceutical companies and hospitals. The medicine will be given to all private and state hospitals, while the Mother Teresa Clinic has already provided this medicine with donations. The director of the Drug Agency also appealed when the medicine arrived to be issued under the strict control of a doctor, and not to be used on his own. He stressed that the tests that were done showed that Favira gives good results, especially if it is taken at the beginning of the disease.

- The Ministry of Health and we as the Drug Agency are involved in the supply chain of the vaccine against Covid-19, and I believe that the first moment when there is a availability of vaccine, we will get it in Macedonia. We also have precise established regulations on how to reach the patients as soon as possible. Drugs can enter Macedonia through registration, the Agency enables import and availability of drugs. However, in such intervention situations, the law allows us to import drugs in a shortened procedure, stressed Shabani.