Press Releases

Monday, March 1, Vilnius - President Dalia Grybauskaitė received Raimondas Šukys, candidate for health minister, to discuss urgent health care issues and the continuity of health care reform. Mr. Šukys presented his position on health care and principles for dealing with the problems in this sector.

President Grybauskaitė reiterated that the Ministry of Health Care should introduce every possible measure to make the price of medicines accessible to all the people of Lithuania. The President emphasized the need to work out and approve by the end of March the pharmacy legislation necessary to regulate the price making principles for non-compensated medicinal products and curb the profits of pharmaceutical companies generated at the expense of everyday people. According to the President, the policy for reducing drug prices must be continued because not all options have been exhausted yet.

President Grybauskaitė underscored that it was necessary to continue the health care reform and to ensure the availability of quality medical services to all. Therefore, the President said, it was important to optimize the network of health care institutions and their services.

Dalia Grybauskaitė pointed out that counter-corruption was the top third priority for the Minister of Health Care. Although searching for and eradicating the roots of corruption was a long process requiring a lot of patience and persistence, it was a very important course of action. The President further said that corruption in health care was particularly shameful since it concerned human health and human well-being.