Private producers take over 86 percent of medicines market

Medicines importing bill has gone down since the beginning of the year by 18 percent compared to 2012, president of the National Union of Pharmaceutical operators Abdelwahed Kerar said on Monday.

 “Medicines national industry covers 36 percent. Of them, 30 percent are controlled by private operators. That reflects 86 percent of national production,” Kerar said in a meeting about pharmaceutical production reality in Algeria.

He added that an Algerian individual consumes $79 of medicines per year compared to the world average estimated at $127 and Lebanese individual who spends $226 on medicines and French individual who consumes about $553.

Kerar criticized the general policy which rules the sector including prices policy, saying it deals with double standard.

He believes that prices system should be revised as it is very old and has not been updated since 1990.

Medicine registration is another hindrance in national production process as procedures are long and complicated.