Lifting the Subsidies on Medication
In tandem with the depletion of BDL’s foreign currency reserves, the BDL is expected to stop subsidizing medication within 1 to 2 months, which would exacerbate the Lebanese socio-economic situation.
In tandem with the depletion of BDL’s foreign currency reserves, the BDL is expected to stop subsidizing medication within 1 to 2 months, which would exacerbate the Lebanese socio-economic situation.
Lifting subsidies on medication without implementing an alternative strategy to provide affordable medication for those in need would lead to social tensions and violence due to the drastic increase in the price of medicines.
The government is expected to allocate 300 to 400 million USD from the remaining foreign currency reserves for medication. Policymakers should use them efficiently by subsidizing crucial medicines (e.g., medicines used to treat chronic and acute diseases, medicines that cannot be produced locally, etc.) and elaborating a new medication policy which would support local producers and incentivize them to produce generic medicines.A new medication policy is therefore required to mitigate the effect of the subsidies
lifting.
The objectives of this medication policy must be the following:
1- Ensuring affordable medication for those in need
2- Reducing the medicines import bill
3- Creating competition in the Lebanese pharmaceutical market
4- Fighting smuggling of medication across the borders
5- Fighting the selling of medication on the black market
6- Fighting forgery/fraud of medicines