Salome Zurabishvili complains to UN about ban on Georgian medicines in South Ossetia

The ban on the sale of Georgian-made medicines and the absence of any possibility to buy them in Georgia because of the closure of the border violates the rights of residents of South Ossetia, claims Georgian President Salome Zurabishvili in her letters to the UN, Council of Europe (CE), and the World Health Organization (WHO).

The "Caucasian Knot" has reported that on February 10, at the instruction of the authorities of South Ossetia, medicines containing Georgian inscriptions were seized from pharmacies. Raids continued, and on February 17, the above medicines were seized from two other pharmacies.

Georgian President Salome Zurabishvili sent letters to the Director General of the World Health Organization, the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights, and the Council of Europe Commissioner for Human Rights, the press service of the Georgian President reported.

"The President notes that the closure of the so-called checkpoints [at the border] and the ban on the use of medicines limit fundamental human rights that relate to the right to health, the right to life, and the right to freedom of movement," declared the Georgian President's press service as quoted today on the website of the Georgian "First Channel".

The President of Georgia emphasizes that the introduced bans affect first of all pensioners, many of whom need constant medication.

This article was originally published on the Russian page of 24/7 Internet agency ‘Caucasian Knot’ on February 19, 2020 at 01:48 pm MSK. To access the full text of the article, click here.