Parliamentary sources said that parliament speaker Ali Abdul Aal is leaning towards approving the formation of a fact-finding committee to investigate the reasons behind medicine disappearing from shelves over the past three months.
The sources told Daily News Egypt that Abdul Aal will form the committee in October.
Last week, the Health Committee of the House of Representatives approved a request to form the fact-finding committee to investigate the medicine shortage.
Member of the committee Samy Al-Mashad said that approximately 1,700 types of medicine have disappeared, which will burden the country, should it continue.
He pointed out that the medicine industry is one of the most important strategic sectors in Egypt, amid a growing market size of over 90 million people. Moreover, he noted that Egypt could be a gateway into Africa.
He highlighted the importance of putting together a new scheme to tackle corruption and monopoly on the part of some companies in the sector.
Sources said earlier that the Central Bank of Egypt has pledged to secure $330m for the sector to buy raw materials, but failed to fulfil the promise in time.
Mohy Al-Din Ebeid, head of the Pharmacists Syndicate, told the press that the volume of medicine traded ranges between EGP 36-40bn a year, while the value of expired medicine on the market amounts to EGP 600m.
