Azernews.Az

By Aynur Jafarova

Iran has increased the prices of domestically produced medicines by 40 percent due to the growth in the exchange rate of foreign currency .which is used for importing raw materials.

Deputy Director of Iranian foods and drugs organization Shams-Ali Rezazadeh said that the prices of imported medicines have been increased by 90 percent.

The Iranian government used to allocate the U.S. dollar at the official exchange rate of 12,260 rials for importing drugs. However, later the rate was increased to about 24,000 rials.

Tehran medical council member Iraj Khosronia said that the Iranian people pay 80 percent of medical costs out of their own pocket, the Mehr News Agency reported.

According to him, the figure is projected to be 25-30 percent by 2015.

Khosronia went on to say that unfortunately, low quality pharmaceutical raw materials are being imported from China and India. According to him, president-elect Hassan Rohani's administration should pay special attention to the issue of medical treatment costs.

According to Iran's Health Ministry official Hossein Ayati, some 97 percent of Iran's required medicine is currently produced domestically, and about 50 percent of necessary raw material for producing the medicine is being imported from abroad.

Earlier former Iranian Health Minister Marzieh Vahid Dastjerdi warned that the prices for medicine drugs in the country can double.

The international sanctions against Iran over its nuclear program covering the financial, trade, energy and transport sectors have led to the economic downturn. These sanctions, along with a reduction in the value of the national currency, have resulted in problems with importing drugs 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.