AMMAN —
Specialists in the pharmaceutical industry called for supporting and empowering
the local
pharmaceutical sector, which is a key driver of the national economy,
according to Al-Ghad News.
اضافة اعلان
The
pharmaceutical industry can be boosted by measures that simplify and facilitate
the official process of registering new medicines, they said, also highlighting
the need to improve the sector’s productivity and heighten the competitiveness
of locally manufactured medicines by reducing costs.
They highlighted
the importance of rehabilitating and developing a specialized workforce,
adopting a marketing and promotional policy for local pharmaceutical
companies, opening new export markets, and setting pricing standards to ensure
price stability.
The sector must
also focus on attracting new investments and supporting existing ones, honing
research and development processes, enhancing innovation, and reviewing
educational curricula with an eye to market requirements, the specialists
said.
Secretary-General
of the Jordanian Association of Pharmaceutical Manufacturers Hanan Sboul said
that the sector faces many challenges, most notably the growing debts owed to
pharmaceutical companies by the government, which have risen to over JD100
million.
Without this
money, companies lack the liquidity needed to carry out their work, which
threatens the continuity of production, export operations, and employment,
Sboul noted.
Hikma
Pharmaceuticals Group President of the Middle East and North Africa region
Mazen Darwazeh said that the Jordanian market provides a “solid base” for its
pharmaceutical industries, but its relatively small size leads local companies
to focus on exports, which constitute about 80 percent of the total
pharmaceutical production.
Jordanian
pharmaceutical companies support Jordanians indirectly, through government
tenders, he said, indicating that the majority of citizens, some 85 percent,
have health insurance, and purchase medicines at nominal prices that near their
production value.
Darwazeh pointed
out that the share of Jordanian companies in the drug market has fallen to 30
percent, from 60 percent, due to the introduction of international brands that
are able to compete in the local free market.
Jordanian brands
should focus on maintaining their competitive advantage in export markets, he
said, adding that Jordan provides a benchmark for medicine pricing.
Darwazeh
encouraged the sector to channel efforts toward increasing exports and opening
new marketing channels, instead of calling in external consultants to conduct
research and export studies, which is costly.
He also stressed
that stakeholders should study the processes that directly affect prices to
avoid a decrease in exports.
Meanwhile, MP
Farid Haddad has said that the government owes three public hospitals about
half a billion dinars and that these hospitals are close to financial collapse.
Haddad told Jo24
that the three are
King Abdullah University Hospital, the University of Jordan
Hospital, and the King Hussein Cancer Center, adding that they all suffer from
financial difficulties because the government has not transferred money owed
them for treating publicly insured patients, and for those who are exempted
from paying for their treatment.
Haddad claimed
that government’s failure to honor its debts to these hospitals has created a
major crisis between them and companies that supply them with drugs and medical
supplies.
He pointed out that the
fate of these institutions is at stake in light of the failure to find
solutions to settle government’s debts despite the fact that such funds have
been allocated in the state’s general budget.
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