Nasser Riyahi added that the lack or low quality of certain medicines has led to the import of these medicines, according to Saturday's edition of 'Iran Daily'.
He said European countries and the US are the main exporters of medicines to Iran while a major part of raw materials required by the domestic pharmaceutical industry are imported from China and India.
Riyahi put the total value of Iran’s pharmaceutical market, including domestic and imported products, at $2.6b.
“Head of Food and Drug Organization (FDO) Rasoul Dinarvand recently announced that Iran’s medicine import is expected to decline to $800m in the year to mid March 2016,” he said.
He added that the Health Ministry’s budget restriction is the main reason for the decline.
The official said the union is making efforts to make medicine import more transparent, for which meetings have been held with Dinarvand and Health Minister Hassan Qazizadeh Hashemi.
Riyahi said a large number of medicines, which were previously imported, are currently manufactured by domestic companies, adding that medicine imports are complementary rather than a substitute for domestic production.
“We support the Health Ministry’s policy to restrict medicine import and support domestic pharmaceutical industry. However, medicine import will cause domestic pharmaceutical manufacturers to improve the quality of their products,” he said.
The official said the problem of medicine shortage has been solved to a large extent since the current government took office in Aug. 2013, announcing that companies active in the field of medicine import have collaborated with FDO in reducing prices.
Riyahi noted that medicine importers demand change in pricing system and speedy import and customs clearance of medicines and medical equipments.
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Tehran, Feb 14, IRNA - Iran imports about $1b worth of medicines annually, most of which pertain to cancer and rare diseases, said the head of the Union of Medicine Importers.
