The UAE Ministry of Health and Prevention has achieved its goal of reducing the prices of almost 80 per cent of innovative pharmaceutical drugs through six initiatives that were launched since 2011 as part of its efforts to decrease the prices of nearly all innovative medicines by mid-2016. 

 

By establishing strategic partnerships with global pharmaceutical companies that have cut down the prices of their medicines, the Ministry has been able to bring down the prices of medicine in the UAE to become less or less like the pricing at the GCC level, said a statement.

 

Dr Amin Al Amiri, assistant undersecretary for the UAE Ministry of Health and Prevention Public Health Policy and Licensing Sector and vice chairman of the Medical Licensing Committe, stated that the Ministry has undertaken efforts to encourage the global pharmaceutical companies to manufacture pharmaceutical products in collaboration with local factories as a prelude to reducing the cost of shipping. 

 

This, in turn, contributes in lowering of drug prices significantly as well as extending the benefit of drug manufacturing technology to local companies. The production of innovative medicines locally will enable costing of these medicines to be at par with the prices in other Arab countries such as Turkey, Algeria and Egypt, he said. - TradeArabia News Service