Patients in Macedonia suffering from cancer, HIV, multiplex sclerosis and epilepsy will be able to use the cannabis-based medicaments by the end of this month, when pharmacies across the country are expected to start selling them, Telegraf.mk reads.
The dosage will be administered and prescribed by a doctor and patients would be able to buy the oil only with a medical prescription.
The price has still not been determined, but it has been announced it will be lower than the one currently present on the black market.
Until then, the preparations for introducing this kind of drugs on the Macedonian market are near their end. These days, the Drugs Agency needs to carry out an inspection with the unique pharmaceutic company that has filed a demand to produce the cannabis extract. If the company meets the terms, the agency will publish its name. The production is expected to commence in around ten days.
Two demands for cannabis extract manufacture have been submitted to the Drugs Agency. This week, the raw material needed for the production of the cannabis oil in Macedonia is also expected to arrive.
The doctors who will administer the medications, and the pharmaceutists who will sell them in drug stores will undergo special training.
Macedonia's Healthcare Minister, Nikola Todorov, said a rulebook that regulates the circulation of the cannabis oil sale in the country has been passed.