Health Minister Warns About the Elimination of Preferential Currency for Medical Equipment

The Health Minister of the fourteenth government states that the preferential currency for medicine has been eliminated. This comes as the Central Bank of Iran claimed to have provided $1.5 billion in preferential currency for "medicine and medical equipment" until September 10 of this year. Mohammad Reza Zafarghandi, the Minister of Health, Treatment, and Medical Education, said on Saturday, September 24, "Our serious concern is that if they eliminate the preferential currency for medical equipment in the second half of the year, just like they did for medicine, we will undoubtedly face a shortage of medical equipment in hospitals." Although the Health Minister of the thirteenth government had also reported the elimination of preferential currency for medicine imports since the beginning of 1401 (2022), the Central Bank still claims in its reports to allocate preferential currency for medicine imports. Statistics from the Central Bank of Iran show that last year, $4.3 billion worth of medical equipment and medicine was imported into the country, of which $1.8 billion was with preferential currency. This figure fell to less than $400 million in the first three months of this year and then increased again in the summer. Following the order of Masoud Pezeshkian, the Central Bank announced the allocation of financial resources to pharmaceutical companies. After months of delay in providing currency for medicine, the head of the Central Bank announced the allocation of liquidity and currency to pharmaceutical units. Meanwhile, the Central Bank claims that from the beginning of this year until September 10, approximately $1.453 billion has been allocated at a rate of 28,500 tomans for the import of medicine and medical equipment. Zafarghandi did not explain why he spoke of the elimination of preferential currency while the Central Bank claims to allocate it for medicine imports, and the Central Bank has not separately indicated how much preferential currency has been allocated to medicine imports and how much to medical equipment imports. Previously, Vahid Hashem Beik Mohalati, the Vice President of the Drug Distribution Association, reported in July this year the elimination of preferential currency for some imported medicines, including respiratory drugs. He further stated, "The pharmaceutical market in 1400 (2021) was approximately 60 trillion tomans, of which 30 trillion tomans was paid out of pocket by the people, but this market in 1402 (2023) was about 160 trillion tomans, and out-of-pocket payments by the people increased to over 80 trillion tomans; meaning people have paid more than twice as much." The Health and Treatment Commission of the Parliament reported in May this year that nearly 150 commonly used medicines are facing serious shortages and about 65 medicines are in acute shortage conditions. On Saturday, the head of the Pharmacists Association also stated that the Iranian government purchases and prices more than 60% of the pharmaceutical products of domestic pharmacists, which is the main factor for the low quality of these medicines.