“I am struggling to reach a pharmacy that provides thyroid treatment for my mother.” With these words, Ahmed (a pseudonym) described, during his interview with the “Al-Hurra” website, his difficult journey in Egypt to buy the medicine that doctors prescribed for his mother, after she underwent a thyroidectomy more than Two years ago.
The Egyptian market has been suffering from a severe shortage of some important types of medicine for about a year, due to the dollar shortage crisis, which the Central Bank recently took measures to resolve, according to what human rights lawyer and executive director of the Right to Medicine Association, Mahmoud Fouad, says.
Ahmed (30 years old) told Al-Hurra website: “Many people, including me, search for the drug Eltroxin from time to time. We are always told: ‘It is incomplete (not available).’ Or pharmacies offer other alternatives.”
The same situation was faced by Abeer (32 years old), who was waiting days until she succeeded in obtaining the drug “Verdabutal”, which is intended to treat depression. She told Al-Hurra website: “I entered on my journey to search for it. The medicine is reserved, as I must order it from a nearby pharmacy and then wait.” Several days until it is available.
In turn, the Executive Director of the “Right to Medicine” Association confirmed, “The shortage of medications for glandular, psychiatric, and neurological diseases, immune diseases, hormones, some types of insulin, and some oncology medications in the Egyptian market.”
Fouad told Al-Hurra website, “There are queues in central Cairo in front of the famous ambulance pharmacy, to which people come from distant governorates such as Aswan and Alexandria… People have been congregating since the dawn hours in front of the pharmacy to get medicine… We are facing a dangerous stage.”
Price increase
Despite the shortage and increase in the prices of some medicines that the market is witnessing, the head of the Pharmaceuticals Division of the General Federation of Chambers of Commerce in Egypt, Ali Aouf, calls on the Egyptian authorities to increase the prices of medicines, to reach a price that is “commensurate with the increase in costs and operational burdens of companies.”
The medicine was administratively priced in Egypt before Egyptian Medicine Authoritywhich says on its website that it is responsible for organizing the registration, circulation and control of preparations, medical supplies and the raw materials used in their manufacture.
Auf said: “Medicine is a strategic commodity and has a social dimension, so it is one of three commodities subject to compulsory pricing, in addition to fuel and bread.”
Aouf explains the concept of compulsory pricing for medicines in Egypt, saying: “A price is set by the Drug Authority in agreement with the companies, and no company is allowed to increase the price above the approved price, before returning to the Authority.”
Aouf justifies the division’s demands by saying, “The medicine is the only product in the Egyptian market whose prices have not increased in 6 months, despite the rise in production costs.”
For his part, the Executive Director of the Right to Medicine Association criticizes the demands of the Pharmaceutical Division, saying: “This is not the appropriate time to demand a price increase. Companies must bear the current circumstances, especially since the Egyptian citizen is currently suffering from difficult costs of living.”
Economist Wael Al-Nahhas agrees with this opinion, who pointed out during his interview with Al-Hurra website that prices “rose at significant rates over the past year, when imports were carried out at dollar prices in the parallel market.”
He said: “The cost of living for the Egyptian citizen has become very high, regardless of whether the dollar declines in the future or not. There are some basic products and commodities whose prices have begun to rise, and the market cannot absorb any increase in the prices of medicine, or any other products.”
Over the past two years, a severe dollar scarcity has put pressure on imports and caused a backlog of goods at ports, which has had an impact on the local industry.
The prices of many basic food items rose much faster than the inflation rate, which accelerated to an unprecedented level of 38 percent last September, before falling to 35.7 percent in February 2023.
The director of the “Right to Medicine” Association confirmed that there are some imported pharmaceutical products whose prices “have actually increased in the Egyptian market, especially those for which there is no local alternative.”
Abeer also pointed this out, saying: “I used to buy eye drops for 30 pounds ($0.63) a month ago, but now their price is about 45 pounds ($0.94).”
In 2023, drug prices in the Egyptian market increased by 24 percent on average, according to what the head of the Pharmaceutical Division told the “Al-Hurra” website, who confirms that it is “the highest percentage compared to previous years, as the average increase of the drug was during normal conditions, without any economic fluctuations.” Or political, 12 percent annually.”
An awaited breakthrough
According to Auf, the pharmaceutical market in Egypt, which depends on imported production components by 90 percent, is awaiting the reversal of the economic measures that the country began implementing this March, as part of an $8 billion financial support agreement that the government signed last week with the International Monetary Fund. .
On March 6, Egypt lowered the exchange rate to about 50 pounds to the dollar, from the level of 31 pounds, near which it had stabilized for nearly a year.
The pound has gradually risen since then, and was trading at 47.81 pounds per dollar on Thursday.
The measures taken by the Central Bank of Egypt to unify the exchange rate and eliminate the parallel market constitute a breakthrough for the pharmaceutical market in Egypt, according to Auf, who pointed out that this “contributes to accelerating the customs release of imported production requirements, which constitute 90 percent of the market.” .
In a press release, it was reported The Middle East News Agency On Thursday, Egyptian Prime Minister Mostafa Madbouly said, “A large portion of the goods accumulated in various ports, worth about $3 billion, have been released.”
The head of the Pharmaceuticals Division of the General Federation of Chambers of Commerce confirmed that “the Egyptian Pharmaceutical Authority recently agreed to receive requests from companies that have been affected by high production costs, to research and study raising their prices.”
Auf continued: “The authority is carefully studying the possibility of moving prices and reaching a fair and satisfactory level for companies as well as patients, so that prices are not exaggerated, and industrial companies continue their work without crises.”
The official expected prices to rise by 25 percent on average during the coming period, “which is the same rate of increase in production costs,” noting that the increases would be “limited with regard to medications for chronic diseases, unlike some other types of medications that are used according to what the patient’s condition requires.”
On the other hand, Fouad said that the Egyptian Medicines Authority “has already begun increasing the prices of some items by 20 to 25 percent, in order to try to satisfy companies and reduce losses in some products.”
He added: “But this comes at a time when, unfortunately, the economic burdens on the Egyptian citizen are many and varied. There are also some strange decisions, such as dispensing only one type of medicine from public hospitals, increasing public hospital ticket prices, and re-pricing some medical services.”
Accusations
The head of the “Right to Medicine” Association called on the Egyptian government to take action to confront the crisis of medicine shortages and the high prices of some of them, saying: “It is not permissible for the patient to try to provide treatment prescriptions by searching all over Egypt… This has led to the flourishing of the black market and the emergence of counterfeit medicine.” “.
In turn, Al-Nahhas accused pharmaceutical companies of reducing the supply of medicines in the Egyptian market in order to re-price them, saying: “Everyone knows that there is a scarcity of medicines in the Egyptian market, while some types have disappeared.”
Al-Nahhas expressed his belief that “pharmaceutical companies are still making profits, regardless of the high production costs, as they have a surplus of dollar liquidity from export proceeds.”
The Egyptian pharmaceutical market has an industrial base that allows it to export to Africa and the Middle East, according to Auf, who said that exports of medical preparations in 2023 “reached about one billion dollars for the first time, compared to 600 million dollars in 2022.”
As of last November, Egypt’s exports of various medical preparations amounted to about one billion and 176 million dollars since the beginning of the year, according to a press release issued by the Egyptian Medicines Authority and reported by local newspapers.
Aouf stressed the high prices of medicine imported from abroad, noting that “the Egyptian consumer cannot bear this, and awareness must be increased regarding the Egyptian product corresponding to the imported product, as they both work with the same efficiency and effectiveness, while the local product is distinguished by its lower price.”
He continued: “For years, we have been calling for dealing with the scientific name of medicines in the Egyptian market and not the trade name, which gives imported goods greater preference,” considering that “reducing dependence on imported medicines contributes to the availability of more foreign currency and supports the national industry.”
