Al-Abyadh stressed that “the drug price index issued today by the Ministry of Public Health will be updated weekly, regardless of the exchange rate, because this will encourage importers to deliver medicines and pharmacists to sell them and not keep them”.
He added: “The Ministry is working on the creation of an application which will be announced shortly and which allows the patient to know the price of the drug he wishes to buy, as well as the price of an alternative medicine. As for the mechanism of application of the strategic change that the Ministry of Public Health has recently achieved in providing subsidized cancer drugs that are administered by injection in hospitals through communication between the hospital and the agent, and without the patient having to worry about getting his medicine from the warehouse in Karantina, it was agreed among those present to give an additional deadline to private hospitals to pay dues to companies for subsidized anticancer drugs, as well as state hospitals which the White Minister stressed the need to treat with respect of privacy.
He continued: “Giving private hospitals more time will allow them to deal with difficult situations until they receive their debts to the state. As for state hospitals, they need more time to pay off their debts because they generally cater to segments of patients most in need, and it is our duty to all of us to help and provide for them.” We fully support them.”
The Minister of Health expressed his satisfaction with the “preliminary results demonstrated by the change of strategy that has been achieved in terms of anticancer drugs administered by injection in hospitals”, underlining “the need for all interested parties to collaborate to move forward on this path cornerstone that guarantees the patient’s interest in the first place.”
The agreement with drug importers was the focus of a phone call this evening between Minister Al-Abyad and the private hospital owners’ union, Suleiman Haroun, during which the details of the executive mechanism were discussed.
