The same scenario happened with the medication without slight change starting with shortage of a supply, people cry, the government deny, many people accused of being behind the fake crisis before other people call to boycott the item as a solution. Then, the prices are increased in order to provide the item back in the market.
The same scenario happened before with the dollar, and baby milk, sugar, rice, and other items in the Egyptian market. However, Medicine is a totally different issue since the patients cannot simply boycott the item as a treatment, as he does with «meat and life ware» since refraining from taking drug is life threatening.
Many people are very poor in Egypt, and such decision means to let them die as they can’t provide the new medicine prices. Dr. Ahmed Imad al-Din, Minister of Health, assured several times that there is no crisis of medicine, before he comes out in a press conference on December 12 declaring the new increase of prices of 3000 medicine in the Egyptian pharmacies at a rate of 30% to 50 %, including medicines of «chronic diseases» that the «minister» has promised a few days ago not to increase their prices.
This increase is the second in less than seven months after the prices have increased by 20%, under the pretext of overcoming drug shortages. The increase affected only 15% of the pharmaceutical items produced locally, and 20% of the imported items. This means that other medicine will disappear in the markets before the same scenario is repeated one more time.
About 20 million people suffer from high blood pressure and, and eight million are diabetics, many of them suffer from the two chronic diseases or even worse. Take into account that almost 50% of the Egyptian people have no medical insurance.
The government has to do something to save the poor and remember the International Covenant on Human Rights that grants the right to health including medicine that should be based on equality. Again, not the medicine and we ask God for the safety of Egypt and its people.
