Bahrain will slash prices of medicines used to treat diabetes, blood and heart diseases by 50 per cent by the middle of next month, said a top official.

Prices will also be reduced for 1,800 categories of drugs in the first phase, while four groups will witness a reduction of 15 per cent to 75 per cent, National Health Regulatory Authority chief executive Dr Baha Eldin Fateha told our sister publication Akhbar Al Khaleej.

The Central Committee in charge of unifying prices of medicines in GCC countries met in Ramee Hotel in Bahrain yesterday (April 28) and discussed implementation of a decision to standardise medicine prices.

It agreed that reduction of four drug groups will be first implemented in Bahrain. The move followed negotiations with drug manufacturers which started in July last year, Dr Fateha said, adding that the new pricing system will help achieve the required balance by implementing currency unification in US dollar and setting new profit margins. – TradeArabia News Service