Pharmacies sector suffers from drug pricing crisis, capital loss over 50%

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The pricing crisis in medication is the biggest challenge facing the pharmacy sector in Egypt, said Ashraf Kordy, Board Member of the Giza Chamber of Commerce. He spoke at a meeting led by Ahmed Al-Wakil, President of the Federation of Chambers of Commerce Egypt, with pharmacy profession leaders and representatives from chambers of commerce in various governorates. He stressed the urgent need for intervention to solve the issue of multiple prices for the same medicine.

He pointed out the huge increase in drug prices over short periods, which led to the economic decline of pharmacies and caused problems with pharmaceutical inspection and citizens.

Kordy said that this crisis caused significant capital losses for pharmacy owners, exceeding 50% in one year. It affected their ability to pay salaries and cover the cost of medicines. He also mentioned the expiration crisis with companies, the abundance of alternatives without using scientific names, and the illegal sale of some medicines within clinics and beauty centers.

Kordy added that meeting participants suggested solutions to ease the crisis, such as printing barcodes instead of prices to standardize selling prices in all pharmacies.

He highlighted the need to implement Law No. 163 of 1950 and its amendment No. 128 of 1982 on pricing, as well as reviewing the decision of the Minister of Health No. 23 of 2017. The meeting also discussed the difficulty of securing funding for pharmacies, as they resort to personal loans due to the Central Bank’s classification of pharmacies as “High Risk”.