The price of some medicines in the United Arab Emirates will soar by as much as 21% in a bid to offset rising inflation rates, the Ministry of Health (MoH) has revealed.
An estimated 600 European manufactured drugs targeting non-chronic conditions will rise by about 21.4%.
Another 530 medications for chronic diseases, including diabetes and hypertension, will rise in price by about 5.85%.
The Ministry hopes to appease European drug firms who had lobbied for a bigger 36% price hike, blaming high import costs caused by the rising strength of the Euro against the dirham.
The decision was a compromise to ensure essential therapies remained affordable, said Minister of Health Humaid Mohammed Obaid Al Qutami.
“Economic changes occurring around the world have made a new drug policy essential…our concern was ensuring affordable treatment to people with chronic diseases.”
However, a source from French drug maker sanofi-aventis said pharmaceutical firms were haggling to further hike the cost of chronic therapies, arguing the 5.85% price fails to offset import costs.
The industry is in new talks with the Ministry and a further increase is likely to be announced, the source said.
The news marks the first climb in drug prices since 2005, when the value of the Euro was AED4.3. Previously, patients were unaffected by currency fluctuations as price caps enforced by the MoH held medicine costs steady.
But the currency gap has created drug shortages, as agents have been unwilling to lose up to 20% of drug prices on shipping costs.
Drug cost caps will now be reviewed on a bi-annual basis.
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