“There were differing views on how much evidence was necessary for decisions,” said Health Minister Mikheil Sarjveladze.

The Minister explained that from 2024, when the process started, the ministry found it essential to make evidence-based instead of impulsive, emotional decisions.

He said parents insisted on making prompt decisions and they could not be “blamed for being in a hurry to take each step.”

“Each of them knows that I am completely sympathetic and understand how important it is to make decisions quickly, but even here, the approach must be balanced: On the one hand, there can be no delay, but this does not mean that we should make decisions carelessly; this risk, of course, was always an accompanying factor in the process,” Mikheil Sarjveladze stated.

According to Sarjveladze, when making decisions regarding Duchenne medications, the Ministry constantly consulted with leading countries to obtain evidence and experience.

Now, as the decision on medication purchase is made, it is crucial that the process is monitored closely so that risk is eliminated and each patient receives maximum benefit.

“It is also very important to share information about medications with doctors who must directly manage patients, so naturally they will be fully involved in the processes,” he said, adding each issue would be reviewed with parents of patients.

“As for the timeline, it is difficult to say, because it does not depend only on us. We are talking, among other things, about the organizations with which we will communicate, consult and negotiate. I assure you that each decision will be made without any delay,” the Minister said.

Mikheil Sarjveladz expressed hope that new, modern generation medications “would emerge in the future which will open up possibilities for treatment, which will be good news. We have been talking about this all the time, and, naturally, we will continue to work in this direction.”