WHO Europe Director, Georgian Health Minister discuss ongoing reforms, cooperation

The ongoing healthcare reforms in Georgia were discussed on Tuesday in a meeting between the Georgian Health Minister Mikheil Sarjveladze and Hans Kluge, the Regional Director for Europe of World Health Organisation.

Sarjveladze presented the reform plans aimed at strengthening primary healthcare, highlighting that this sector was playing a crucial role in mitigating health risks and preventing diseases.

He emphasised that the reform would significantly improve the quality of medical services and raise the standards across primary healthcare institutions.

Kluge underlined the importance of the ongoing reforms in Georgia to increase access to quality healthcare services for citizens and emphasised both the announced primary health care reform and the changes that the Georgian Government had already implemented to increase access to medicines.

“I would like to congratulate Georgia’s Minister of Health, Mr. Mikheil Sarjveladze, on receiving a global award from WHO Director-General Dr. Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, recognising Georgia as a malaria-free country”, Kluge said.

“We had a very productive meeting and discussed opportunities for future cooperation across various areas. In this regard, I congratulate Georgia and the Minister - not only for creating effective policies, but also for translating these policies into real actions”, he said.

Kluge further expressed the World Health Organisation’s great satisfaction for the progress and cooperation achieved in the following three directions:

• Primary health care reform, which is very important to ensure that quality healthcare is available close to citizens' homes.
• Increasing access to medicines, which is being implemented through very carefully planned reforms, such as the hospital financing system and negotiations with pharmaceutical companies.
• Work on risk factors. This is not only a task for Georgia, but for the entire region: tobacco, alcohol, physical activity, healthy nutrition, reducing salt consumption”, he noted.

The meeting also discussed joint projects and opportunities for further strengthening cooperation.