A parent of a child suffering from Duchenne muscular dystrophy, Tamar Gogaladze, responded to today’s statement by Prime Minister Irakli Kobakhidze, who said regarding treatment medication that “the money in question is people’s money.”

According to her, saving children’s lives should be a priority.

“Kobakhidze’s statement is absurd every day. When they talk about funds, they are talking about our money. For some reason, they have decided to turn us against society, as if we are using and demanding their money. This money is ours! Our paid taxes are also in the budget and should be spent wisely; it should be a priority to use it to save children’s lives. I kindly ask them not to twist this issue in a way that pits us, the parents, against society. I am speechless when it comes to his comment. Last year, 600 million was left unspent - they couldn’t decide what it should be spent on,” she said.

For context, Prime Minister Irakli Kobakhidze stated when speaking about medications for Duchenne treatment: “The money we are talking about, whether it is 50 or 60 million, is not money that we take from our own personal pockets and distribute. This is people’s money. The only thing that may restrain us is responsibility toward the Georgian people.”

He also noted that while it would be politically advantageous to allocate the funds, public budget money should not be used to enrich a “pharmaceutical mafia.”