where the State owns more than 50% of shares, would be able to purchase medicines under simplified procedure. The recommendation has not been implemented. According to the reply received from the Ministry, consultations have begun on the above issue with the State Procurement Agency and other parties concerned.268 The third recommendation to the Government of Georgia concerned changes to the mental health programme to manage the side effects of medicines through appropriate examinations and consultations, in accordance with the guidelines in place in the country. The European Committee for the Prevention of Torture also refers to the management of drug side effects in its 2019 report on Georgia.269 The reply received from the Ministry reads that the Ministry does not acknowledge this problem and believes that the treatment in institutions providing mental services is carried out according to the guidelines applied in the country.270 This recommendation has not been implemented. In particular, the State Health Plan 2020271 does not provide for the management of side effects, which leads to the non-obligation to manage side effects.272 Ministry of Internally Displaced Persons from the Occupied Territories of Georgia, Labour, Health and Social Affairs One recommendation to the Ministry concerned the elimination of threats to the provision of smooth medical care at Bediani Psychiatric Hospital. The issuance of this recommendation is related to the violations identified by the Internal Audit Department of the Ministry at East Georgia Mental Health Centre Ltd,273 which posed a threat to the smooth provision of mental care. According to the information received from the Ministry, most of the patients of Bediani Hospital were transferred to the newly renovated building of Acad. B. Naneishvili National Mental Health Centre, while the remaining 30 patients are placed in the women's unit, where conditions are relatively better. It should be noted that the State is taking some steps towards the deinstitutionalization of large psychiatric institutions. The Public Defender welcomes all practical decisions aimed at improving 268 Letter No. 01/20057 of the Ministry of Internally Displaced Persons from the Occupied Territories, Labour, Health and Social Affairs, November 27, 2019. 269 Report of the European Committee for the Prevention of Torture on the visit to Georgia (CPT/Inf (2019) 16), para. 124, September 10-21, 2018, available in English at: <https://rm.coe.int/1680945eca> [last accessed: 15.01.20]. 270 Letter No. 01/20057 of the Ministry of Internally Displaced Persons from the Occupied Territories, Labour, Health and Social Affairs, November 27, 2019. 271 Resolution of the Government of Georgia on Approval of State Health Care Programmes 2020, available at: <https://bit.ly/2U7JHVc> [last accessed: 27.01.20]. 272 For more information, see the chapter on somatic health. 273 For information on violations, see the 2018 Report of the National Preventive Mechanism, p. 97-99, available at: <https://bit.ly/2QBMRhM> [last accessed: 27.01.2020]. 97