We have a shortage of some medicine items / Why did the medicine become expensive?

Seyed Hesamuddin Sharifonia, Pharmacist and Member of the Board of the Iranian Association of Drug Economics and Management in an interview Fars News Agency Health Regarding the patients’ complaints about the shortage of some drugs in the market, he said: “There are indeed cases of shortage of some drugs and it is getting worse, this is also due to the existence of a preferred currency issue.” Today, due to the fact that the currency of the Ministry of Health for medicine has run out with the Central Bank and the Central Bank has stopped allocating 4,200 Tomans for some time, there is a shortage of medicine in the country.

He added: “Today, companies can not get government currency so that they can prepare and produce government raw materials through it, and this is the main problem.” In the past, even when government currency was available, pharmaceutical companies could not receive raw materials on time due to the fact that Indian or Chinese banks did not receive this type of currency due to banking sanctions, and many shortages of drugs in the country For this reason, in addition, receiving this type of currency has been associated with the imposition of a cost of 5 to 10 percent.

Reverse smuggling of some drugs in the country due to the cheapness of drugs

Sharifnia pointed to the role of some in the reverse smuggling of cheap drugs and said: “On the other hand, many items that received preferred currency were also reverse smuggled compared to neighboring countries due to receiving subsidies and their cheapness.” For example, statistics provided by the Food and Drug Administration and Customs on the import of various types of insulin pens show that these items were imported 20 to 25 percent more last year than the same period last year, but these items were reversed from the smuggling country and one This was one of the reasons for the shortage of these drugs.

The university assistant professor emphasized: On the other hand, pharmaceutical companies have not been able to have new investments on their lines due to the increase in their overhead costs on the one hand and the allocation of preferential currency only to effective pharmaceutical substances, and some cases of drug shortages in the country This is the reason, for example, the shortage of serum in the country in recent months, which was due to the cessation of production in one of the production lines due to the wear and tear of these lines.

No drugs are excluded from the insurance list

In response to this issue, he said: “No drug has been removed from the insurance list and what has happened is that the currency quota of the Food Organization has expired and this organization has inevitably prioritized the allocation of currency and converted the currency of some drugs into currency.” It has halved and this has increased the price of medicines. On the other hand, unfortunately, insurance companies have not acted in a timely manner. Experts have been emphasizing for several years that you should eliminate the preferred currency and give it to the insurance companies through various mechanisms to compensate for this price difference. Unfortunately, they have not done so. We are facing such a situation.

A member of the board of the Iranian Association of Drug Economics and Management said: The Ministry of Health has been forced to convert the currency of lower priority drugs into half currency, and since the insurance mechanism is not active, people pay the price difference out of their own pockets. It’s painful. It had to be anticipated, the difference in money would be given to the insurers and then the currency of the medicine would be withdrawn. Unfortunately, this coordination has not taken place between the insurance company and the central bank and the Food and Drug Administration, and naturally the insurers are the main culprits in this regard, as they are responsible for the access of the patients.

Facilitate access to medicine by the Ministry of Health and the Food and Drug Administration

“When we talk about currency, the Ministry of Health and the Food and Drug Administration should pursue a policy that facilitates people’s access to medicine,” Sharifnia said. This policy can be examined in two ways, first, access in terms of availability and second, access in terms of payability. In such a way that the medicine is available to the people and on the other hand it is payable for them.

He pointed out that the preferential exchange rate policy has affected the availability of medicine due to shortages. However, adjusting the exchange rate to half by resolving the issue of drug availability can eliminate the second factor of drug access, namely, that it can be paid by the people. In order for this not to happen, the insurers must be present here, receive the budget, and cover the exchange rate difference for the people so that the people will not be harmed.

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