Does Raising Medicine Prices Show Morsy’s Social Bias?

The Ministry Health decided to link the prices of medications sold locally to those in Europe, the Gulf and Canada and formed a government committee to examine prices.

The ministry denied that it has devised a whole new system for pricing medication and said in a statement that the new decision only modified an earlier one from 2009.

The 2009 decision stipulated that prices will be compared with those in 36 countries and medications will be sold locally at 10 percent less than the lowest price found abroad.

The Health Ministry’s decision to tie medication pricing to international prices has sparked a feud between the doctors and pharmacists syndicates.

While the Pharmacists Syndicate described the decision as historic, the Doctors Syndicate said it will harm patients who cannot afford price increases. The decision increases the profit margin for pharmaceutical companies at the expense of patients.

Sabbahi tweeted on Saturday, “The repricing of medication at a time when the poor do not find money to be treated, is the first indication of the social bias of the new power. Egypt’s policies need to have more bias to the poor.”

We Said This: Nation’s Poor Can’t Afford Drugs, so what will you do Mr. President?!