President Abdel Fattah Al-Sisi called on the government to provide imported medications that do not have local replacements, according to a statement by the presidency on Sunday.
During his meeting with Prime Minister Sherif Ismail and Minister of Health Ahmed Emad El-Din on Sunday, Al-Sisi stressed the necessity to continue supporting the medicine supply in the market, guarantee the availability of all kinds of medicine at appropriate prices, and provide the financial allocations needed to do so.
Spokesperson of the presidency Alaa Youssef said that during the meeting, Al-Sisi was updated with the government’s efforts regarding the development of the healthcare system, especially providing medications during price increases due to the liberalisation of the Egyptian pound.
During its meeting last Thursday, the government approved the increase in medicine prices, according to a press statement by the Minister of Health on Saturday. The medicines subject to the increase will not exceed 15% of local medicines and 20% of imported medicines. It is divided into three segments, with a minimum increase of 30% and a maximum of 50%.
The minister added that the medicines for chronic diseases have been excluded from the increase.
On Sunday, the minister of health explained to Al-Sisi the ministry’s strategy to overcome the problem of medicine shortage through a short-term plan, including raising prices and compensating for the medicine shortages through the Ministry of Health, a medium-term plan including the requalification of public pharmaceutical factories, and a long-term plan based on expanding the manufacture of medicine, according to the statement.
The minister of health also said that the ministry allocated over EGP 8bn to reform and develop public hospitals and medical facilities that need development throughout the next two years.
