YEREVAN, NOVEMBER 12, NOYAN TAPAN. A conference on development of Armenia's pharmaceutical industry started its work in Yerevan on November 12. Issues related to the main principles of the proper production activity, their introduction in Armenia, as well as development of the pharmaceutical sector will be discussed during the two-day conference. According to Emil Gabrielian, the director of the Expert Center of Medicines and Medical Technology, today many countries exports and import only medicines in line with the proper production activity standards which ensure the correspondence of medicines with international standards and control their quality. In the opinion of E. Gabrielian, there are numerous problems in Armenia's pharmaceutical sector which is in need of serious reforms. "Medicines are the key healthcare factor, they are a weapon of doctors. In this connection special requirements are made regarding their production and use," he said. In his words, the proper production conditions are absent at many enterprises, which results in the low quality of products and their packing. E. Gabrielian said that if the current situation continues, no country will buy medicines from Armenia in the future. "Being in line with international standards is extremely important for Armenia's pharmaceutical industry," the chief competitiveness expert of the USAID-financed Competitive Armenian Private Sector (CAPS) Alan Saffery said. He added that the use of proper production activity standards will increase competitiveness in the sectior because by improving their production, the domestic manufacturers of medicines will be able to compete more successfully with importers and to export their products to more countries.

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