Algerian President Bouteflika gives health Minister green light to combat the “Mafia” of pharmaceuticals.

The Minister of health, population and hospital reform Said Barkat has expressed his ministerial department’s resolve to clear the air and to put an end to the sweeping anarchical situation now gripping the pharmaceuticals’ market in Algeria.

• Taking the floor during a meeting held on Saturday at the Ministry’s premises in Algiers with private pharmacists, Said Barkat said that he had been given the go ahead by the President of the Republic Abdellaziz Bouteflika to wage a relentless struggle against the “Mafia” networks which are holding sway on certain pharmaceutical products on the Algerian market.
• The representatives of the National Pharmacists’ Union also took the opportunity of the meeting with Said Barkat to expound their grievances and the hurdles they face daily in the fulfilment of their duties vis à vis the patients.
• The Minister further reiterated, on the occasion, the Algerian authorities’ firm determination to better regulate the medicines’ market by notably encouraging the regular availability and widespread sale of generic pharmaceutical products as part of the government’s newly-devised health strategy.