Minister of Health: 31 pharmaceutical factories in Iraq, 20 others under construction

INA – BAGHDAD
 
Minister of Health, Salih Al-Hasnawi revealed on Friday the number of local pharmaceutical factories in Iraq and the size of what is under construction.
 
"Local medicines undergo several tests and quality, safety and efficiency checks, just like imported medicines, and any locally registered medicine has met the required conditions as it does not differ in terms of quality, efficiency, effectiveness and safety from any foreign medicine," said Al-Hasnawi to the Iraqi News Agency – INA.
 
He added, "We currently have 31 pharmaceutical factories in Iraq and 20 others under construction with completion rates ranging between 25-80%, and the new factories are spread across the map of Iraq in Karbala, Najaf, Basra, Diwaniyah, Salah al-Din, Anbar and the Kurdistan Region."
 
"We also have many initial licenses granted to investors wishing to establish new pharmaceutical factories with the application of the required conditions. We are working on more than one level to increase the output of government factories or those affiliated with the private sector,” he noted.
 
Al-Hasnawi pointed out that "the production of medicines in the private sector is still small and we hope to increase it with the completion of the construction of the new factories. We also hope to pay attention to the product and its quality, calling on those factories to enter into a state of integration with the factories of the government sector, meaning that they do not focus on one pharmaceutical product and diversify to cover the local need for all medicines and competition is based on the diversity of the medicines produced. This will ultimately achieve self-sufficiency over time and lead to the stability of the pharmaceutical market and the achievement of pharmaceutical security." 
 
“The government has developed a long-term plan to localize the pharmaceutical industry, starting with the facilities provided by the Ministry of Health, secondly the facilities of the Ministry of Industry, thirdly banking and banking facilities, and fourthly customs facilities, as we hope to reach the stage of securing 75-90% of the country's need through local medicines within years,” he highlighted.