Iran resumes allocating Forex for medicine purchases
Iran has once again resumed allocating FOREX for imported medicine, Iran's Deputy Minister of Health Abbas Haji Akhundi said on June 21.
The government had stopped providing FOREX for medicine purchase in February, ISNA news agency quoted Akhundi as saying.
During the past few months, just 60 to 70 million US dollars have been provided for purchasing drugs which resulted in a medicine shortage, he said.
Akhundi said on June 19, that each family will be provided with financial assistance in the form of subsidies for the purchase of medicine, ISNA reported.
Given the rise in price of drugs, the government will assist families when purchasing expensive drugs, Haji Akhundi said.
Patients will provide a certificate of medicine purchases in pharmacies, based on which the relevant amount will be transferred to their bank accounts, Akhundi said.
"We have tested this in the Iranian province of Yazd, and in the near future, this system will be applied across the country," he said.
The information does not indicate the amount of funds to be transferred to the bank accounts of families.
International sanctions against Iran over its nuclear program led to a significant increase in the dollar against the Iranian rial last year. This has led to a rise in price of drugs imported into the country for patients suffering from serious diseases.
According to Iranian media reports, there is a shortage or high prices observed in the country for medicines required for the treatment of cancer, cardiovascular disease, SARS and respiratory diseases, hemophilia, multiple sclerosis and other diseases.