TEHRAN – The government has allotted a total budget of $500 million from the National Development Fund to the country’s pharmaceutical industry which will be provided within the current week (ending on November 9), an official with the Planning and Budget Organization has announced.

Some 97 percent of the whole medicine consumed in the country is produced domestically and only 3 percent is imported, therefore the budget must support the domestic medicine industry, IRNA quoted Saeed Namaki as saying on Sunday.

So, some $500 million has been earmarked to the medicine industry to increase production in addition to eradicating problem facing the industry, he added.

It is planned that the budget will be mostly spent on pharmaceutical industry, however, we are also considering to allot some of the budget to insurance companies as well, he further stated.

Elsewhere in his remarks, referring to the budget allocated to the patients suffering special diseases such as multiple sclerosis, kidney failure and epidermolysis bullosa, he said that this year, some 2 trillion rials (nearly $48 million) have been earmarked to the special diseases, half of which has been provided during the first six months of the year (March 21- September 22).

Next year, the budget will be considered to increase mostly due to the number of patients and the population covered by the insurance, he concluded.

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