The MOH Director General for Medical Supply and member of the National Committee for Drug Registering Dr. Khalid bin Abdul Rahman Al-Husain said the decision of bringing down drug prices, which came into effect as of Feb 1st, 2008, had been the result of MOH efforts to provide the best therapeutic services to both citizens and residents.
He said MOH pays great attention to drug availability and pricing, confirming that Drug repricing is a regular yearly process and that the decision will help in dealing with the effects of the instability in drug prices occurring due to the fluctuations in exchange rates of foreign currencies.
He said importers' profits had not been affected by the decision, since profit dues of importers, distributors, and pharmacies are protected by law.
"According to the decision, the export rates of all drug items have been adjusted to be in Saudi Riyals, whereas the rates of items developed prior to five years have been brought down by 1% for each year", he said. "The implementation of the decision has enabled MOH to lower or fix the rates of 60% of drug items registered in the Kingdom, in addition to fixing export rates by Saudi Riyals". It is expected that such measures will ensure constant rates and assist in avoiding fluctuations in exchange rates.
He said MOH will spare no effort in applying restrictive measures on any breach, including fines, closing, etc.