Legislative amendments strengthening pharmaceutical control have come into force in Kazakhstan. Former Majilis deputy Askhat Aimagambetov said that now government agencies can instantly suspend the sale of counterfeit and low-quality drugs. This was reported by Qazaqyia.kz citing Kursiv Media.
"When a person buys a medicine, he should not guess whether it is genuine, high-quality, or dangerous to health. He must be sure that the state has already checked everything and ensures safety. Recently, the head of state signed a law that includes our author's amendments to strengthen pharmaceutical control," he wrote on his Telegram channel.
Aimagambetov emphasized that the scale of the problem has grown significantly in recent years. According to the Ministry of Health, if in 2022 there were 151 items of illegally sold products identified, then in 2025 there were already more than 21 thousand units of drugs.
Now, according to him, dangerous drugs will be removed from shelves immediately.
"If counterfeit or low-quality drugs are detected, the violator's activities can be suspended without waiting for the end of a lengthy court process and an investigation can be started immediately. Previously, a potentially dangerous product could remain on sale for months. Now the reaction must follow on the day the violation is detected," he explained.
In addition, drug samples for testing will now be taken by government agencies. Previously, pharmaceutical control could not simply take a drug that was on sale for analysis. The agency contacted the manufacturer, and he actually decided which batch to provide to the inspectors.
"This is like allowing a student to choose the exam ticket he knows. WHO and WAP pointed out this gap in the control system. Now, drug samples for analysis will be independently selected by government agencies," he stressed.
Earlier, Kursiv wrote that prices for some medications have begun to decline in pharmacies. This was reported by the Ministry of Health after summing up the results of a comparative price analysis across the republic.
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