Kazakhstan has revised its list of medicines subject to state price regulation. According to the Ministry of Health, more than 1,200 inexpensive drugs will now be moved to market-based pricing, infohub.kz reports.

Medicines costing up to one monthly calculation index — 4,325 tenge — are being removed from state price regulation. In the updated list, the number of items subject to state price regulation has been cut from 3,039 to 1,827.

"In accordance with the updated list, the number of items subject to state price regulation has been reduced from 3,039 to 1,827," the ministry said in a statement.

The ministry explained that state regulation is becoming more targeted and focusing on medicines for which additional protection of public access is necessary.

The transfer of some medicines to market pricing is accompanied by tighter monitoring of the pharmaceutical market. The Ministry of Health, together with the Agency for the Protection and Development of Competition of the Republic of Kazakhstan, is working on mechanisms for price monitoring and control, including through the information system for labeling and traceability of goods.

Digital tools make it possible to track the movement of medicines and analyze actual prices at various stages of their circulation. "This creates the ability to promptly identify potential signs of unjustified price increases. Since the launch of mandatory labeling in July 2024, about 1.1 billion packages of medicines have passed through the system," the ministry emphasized.

The Ministry of Health noted that efforts to ensure price affordability of medicines for Kazakhstanis will continue. If cases of exceeding established maximum retail prices are detected, citizens can use the DariKZ mobile application to submit a complaint with supporting materials — a sales receipt and the medicine packaging — to the territorial departments of the Committee for Medical and Pharmaceutical Control of the Ministry of Health of the Republic of Kazakhstan.

Earlier it was reported that more than five hundred medicines had become cheaper in Kazakhstan.