Iraq: To reduce importing 23 types of locally produced medicines

INA - BAGHDAD 

Pharmacists Syndicate counted the number of national laboratories producing medicines, confirming that what they manufacture conforms to the specifications and has the required efficacy. It revealed that a decision was issued to reduce the import of 23 types of them, reassuring that all that is produced and entered into Iraq, is carefully tested and of discreet medicines.

"Iraq includes 30 national pharmaceutical laboratories, and their materials are supplied by the General Company for Medical Supplies, whether local or imported. The current government approach is to have a percentage of the available medicines of local production and are registered within international standards," said the head of the Pharmacists Syndicate, Mustafa Al-Hiti, to the Iraqi News Agency - INA.

He noted, "The Iraqi citizen must be aware that the local medicines conform to the specifications, equally with the imported ones in terms of quality and effectiveness, and the registration of the medicine in the Ministry of Health takes place after it conforms to the specifications."

"Specialized drugs with the so-called (low therapeutic coefficient), in which the difference between the toxic dose and the therapeutic dose should be small, should be carefully tested. Most of them are imported from abroad," he highlighted. 

Al-Hiti explained that "there are 23 medicines that are produced locally and fulfill the need, as a decision was issued to reduce their import. The issue was built on the principle of people's right to choose their own medicine, pharmacy, and doctor."

"Intravenous drugs, such as nutrients and others, require high production costs and special technology. Iraq produces them via private laboratories affiliated with the private sector, and there is development in this field, but it is now in the first steps," he included.