Georgian president Salome Zourabichvili on Tuesday pledged support for the parents of children with achondroplasia, who have been demanding the supplying of a revolutionary drug, approved by the European and American agencies in 2021, for more than a month. 

“The president has expressed her willingness to get involved in the process. This is a great support for usr to speed up the events, to create a national protocol on time and as promised by the health minister to bring this medicine to Georgia on time for our children", said one of the parents after the meeting in the presidential palace. 

The parents are demanding the imports and funding of Voxzogo (vosoritide), a revolutionary drug in treatment of the rare genetic disease slowing the bone growth authorized by the European Medicines Agency and the US Food and Drug Administration. 

Georgian prime minister Irakli Garibashvili on Monday claimed the government was ready to allocate about 10 million GEL for the drug, but was afraid of possible side effects as the medicine “had not been approved by the World Health Organisation”.

The PM aso accused the opposition of misleading the parents and using the topic for their “narrow” political interests. 

Angered by the comments, the parents claimed they had not been affiliated with any political groups and pledged to continue protests until receiving the medicine. 

The Georgian health minister has put the cost of an annual dose for each patient at $200,000, with an estimated number of the patients suffering from the disease in the country is about 30.