In Kazakhstan, July saw a decrease in prices for 589 medicinal products, which is nearly a quarter of all monitored medications, according to infohub.kz.
The monitoring, conducted by the Ministry of Health, covered 2,555 drug names across 20 regions of the country. As a result, retail prices decreased for 589 items, while 1,267 drugs remained unchanged. The most significant price reductions—over 20%—were recorded for 147 items, with 198 items dropping by 10–20%, and 244 items by 5–10%.
Among the cheaper drugs are those widely used to treat infectious, cardiovascular, and gastrointestinal diseases. According to the ministry, the price of Zitmak 250 mg No. 6 fell by 24.25%, Ceftriaxone 1 g by 22.03%, and Pantap 20 mg No. 14 by 20.1%. Also, Lisinopril-LF 20 mg No. 10 decreased by 14.7%, Enap 5 mg No. 10 by 13.27%, Pulmicort 0.25 ml by 11.09%, and Amoxiclav 875 mg/125 mg by 6.86%.
The monitoring of actual drug prices is carried out using a marking and traceability system, which allows tracking the movement and availability of drugs in medical organizations and pharmacies, as well as comparing actual prices with state-established maximum limits.
Bauyrzhan Dzhussipov, Chairman of the Committee for Medical and Pharmaceutical Control of the Ministry of Health of the Republic of Kazakhstan, noted that digital tools enable prompt detection of changes in the pharmaceutical market and response to cases of exceeding established prices. For consumers, an additional verification tool is the mobile application Naqty Onim, which provides information about the manufacturer and distributor of a drug, the pharmacy where it is sold, and the set maximum retail price.
Simultaneously, the Ministry of Health revised its approach to state price regulation, focusing primarily on socially significant and in-demand drugs. As a result of updating the list, 3,039 prescription drugs are now subject to state price regulation, while 4,918 drugs have been removed from regulation, including over-the-counter medications and prescription drugs costing up to one monthly calculation index (MCI).
According to the Committee for Medical and Pharmaceutical Control, this allows concentrating state control on the most important medicines for the population and reducing the administrative burden on the pharmaceutical market. Control over compliance with maximum prices continues: in the first half of 2026, 6 cases of exceeding established prices were detected, for which administrative measures were applied, with total fines amounting to 1.4 million tenge.
Efforts to ensure the availability of medicines continue in cooperation with manufacturers, distributors, and pharmacy organizations. At the end of July, the Ministry held a meeting with pharmaceutical market participants to discuss supply stability and prevention of unjustified price increases.