During a meeting of GCC health ministers in Oman in January 2012, it was decided to unify drugs exporting prices as well as the currency of exportation to be the US dollar, which shall be enforced this year

 

Drug prices in Qatar are expected to come down soon with the “imminent” unification of medicine importation channels and the adoption of a new pricing system by the six-member Gulf Co-operation Council (GCC) countries, it is learnt.

Qatar residents have often complained about the high prices of medicines in the country, particularly when compared with the rates in the other GCC states of Bahrain, Kuwait, Oman, Qatar, Saudi Arabia, and the United Arab Emirates.

During a meeting of GCC health ministers in Oman in January 2012, it was decided to unify drugs exporting prices (CIF) as well as the currency of exportation to be the US dollar, which shall be enforced this year.

Responding to a recent story  in Gulf Times, the Supreme Council of Health said in a statement:  “We would like to confirm that drug prices shall witness reasonable drop with the imminent activation and application of Decision No 7, adopted and approved” during the Oman meeting.

The council said that rising drug prices was a problem “which hit all GCC countries with the exception of the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia (KSA) where the  lower prices are attributed to a variety of reasons such as the high density of population, huge number of visitors especially during  the Haj and Umrah seasons and the difference in health systems applied”.

The quantity of drugs consumed in Saudi Arabia is  huge and “this prompts  drug  companies to offer lower exporting prices in order to compete and win a bigger share in the market. Obviously, these competitive prices contribute considerably in lowering the prices of certain drugs in Saudi Arabia. Hence the comparison of drug prices in the other GCC countries with Saudi Arabia is unfair”. 

However, the SCH said drug prices in Qatar, compared with the other GCC countries except Saudi Arabia, are more or less the same or “slightly different”.

GCC countries shall be adopting the new pricing system  in a number of stages after the classification of drugs in therapeutic groups as follows:
A) cardiovascular system drugs, B) endocrine system drugs, C) musculoskeletal & joints Disease drugs , D) gastro-intestinal system drugs  and E) skin drugs.

As part of this, wholesale and retail prices of drugs in groups A and B shall soon be fixed for all GCC countries.

“Hence it is anticipated that drug prices in Qatar shall evidently drop and be similar or close to those in the GCC States and be standardised in all private pharmacies in Qatar.”

The new steps will also help curb the flow of fake drugs and drug trafficking in GCC States.

“This is a  key target that the SCH is diligently striving to achieve within its strategy.”

With regard to the control over licensed pharmacies in Qatar, the statement said the inspection section of the Pharmacy and Drug Control Department at the SCH conducted regular checks at all   pharmacies in the country to ensure their compliance with the specified prices.

“However, no violation of prices has been registered since the announcement of the free drugs marketing regime.”