Medicines hit a pricey road

The per capita spending on medicines in UAE is around Dh690 per annum. But now the residents have to shell out more despite the Ministry of Health’s recent initiative to slash prices of hundreds of prices. The cost of medicine is already much higher than other countries, as well as highest among GCC nations. In the UAE, a large section of the population suffers from chronic ailments such as Type 2 diabetes and cardiovascular diseases. According to the BMI report, 8.26 million residents bought medicines worth Dh5.71 billion, in total, last year and are expected to spend Dh6.13 billion this year – an increase of 7.3 per cent. Around Dh32.93 billion were spent on healthcare last year which will increase 10 per cent to Dh36.16bn. According to UAE's Ministry of Health, “BMI expects that most of the value development will be realized in the prescription sector, boosted by rising population numbers and a changing diseases profile. In particular, the country is tackling an obesity and diabetes epidemic, which will also require long-term treatment of related conditions, such as increased blood pressure.” In developing countries of the world such high prices of Allopathic medicines gave way to the rise of Homeopathic medicines, which remains the second best choice of people in developing countries.