Concerns over Egypt's new medicines pricing policy

A decision by the Egyptian Health Ministry to peg local medicine prices to those of international markets is causing concern, according to IRIN, a service of the UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs.

"This is a catastrophic decision," Karima Al Hefnawy, a member of local non-governmental organization (NGO) the Independent Right to Health Committee, told IRIN. "Egypt is a low-income country, which means that linking local medicine prices with international ones will cause suffering to the poor," he stated.

Only about 30% of Egyptians have health insurance, according to a recent estimate by the NGO. Hitherto, medicine prices were set by the Ministry, sometimes at much lower prices than the manufacturing cost, leading some suppliers to go out of business.