The Health Care and Social Issues Committee heard information on the initial healthcare reform and the current situation, introduced by the First Deputy Health Minister, Tamar Gabunia. She overviewed the reform roadmap noting that this reform shall ensure equal access to healthcare services and improve treatment quality.

“The key objective of the roadmap is to determine the main stages and means for the enhancement of our initial healthcare system. It is noteworthy that under the pandemic, it has been many times outlined that without the enhanced initial healthcare, the management of the contagious and non-contagious diseases, as well as efficiency of the treatment would be impossible since the initial healthcare is the factor, in fact, managing 80% of the cases at the place with only small part requiring specialized interference”, - she stated.

Georgia in the past has tried several times to undertake the initial healthcare reforms. She overviewed the current situation in the system and informed MPs about the challenges. She dwelt on the activities in 2019-2021 for the enhancement in the initial healthcare in urban and rural areas, stressing the reform roadmap for 2022-2025 ensuing equal accessibility to high-quality medicines in both areas.

“We have many times discussed the initial healthcare reform, its function and the needs, though, despite years of active engagement, the problems still exist. Some of the problems have been detected during the pandemic and we issued respective recommendations. Naturally, the initial healthcare link carries vast importance – it is a practical means for healthcare, and is a strong cost-efficiency filter”, - the Chair of the Committee, Dimitri Khundadze stated.

According to him, the Committee in cooperation with the Ministry and other respective agencies is committed to keeping facilitating the trust-building of the reform, encouragement of the doctors and nurses of this link, reforming the uninterrupted vocational education and ensuring accessibility to the medicines for the population.