Morocco seeks to promote use of generic medicines
2008-05-02
Morocco's Health Ministry plans to expand the use of generic medicines in the private sector. While consumers would benefit from the lower prices, trade agreements and patent restrictions could hinder the sector's growth.
Sarah Touahri in Rabat contributed to this report for Magharebia – 02/05/08
 [File] Health Minister Yasmina Baddou has advocated fixing prices on generic drugs to rein in the cost of health care and create balance between imported and locally-manufactured medicines. |
While generic drugs are commonly used in Morocco's state-run hospitals, accounting for up to 90 % of the public-sector market, they have a long way to go before they see the same saturation in the private sector. A new policy announced by the Health Ministry aims to promote the use of generic medicines and keep drug prices in line with citizens' purchasing power.
Speaking at a forum organized by the Moroccan Association of Public Sector Pharmacists (AMPSP), Health Minister Yasmina Baddou said she wants to revitalise the generic medicine sector and increase its market share from its current 25%. A new plan is needed, she told attendees at the April 15th event in Rabat, because measures thus far have been "insufficient for a strong and sustained promotion of generic drugs".
The Health Ministry's plan hinges upon a price-fixing policy designed to rein in healthcare spending and achieve parity between imported and locally-manufactured drugs.
"Generic medicines allow us to save a lot in hospitals," said Abdelaziz Agoumi, the ministry's director of drugs and pharmacy. He added that when invitations to tender are made, the least expensive drugs end up in hospitals.
AMPSP President Hachmi Bouzbib affirmed that generic drugs are equal in quality to name-brand medicines. However, they are much more affordable for the public, with the lowest prices equal to just 20-50% of those of name-brand drugs.
But according to the Moroccan Pharmaceutical Industry Association (AMIP), only 60 million units of generic medicines are sold among the estimated total of 200 million units in the private sector each year. And despite their affordability, generics have only risen from 19 to 30% of sales in the past ten years.
Abdelmajid Belaiche, who works in the pharmaceutical industry, said generic medicines enable the health insurance system to cater to healthcare needs and keep expenditures to a minimum. This means that insurers can balance their books and thereby ensure that they are viable and sustainable.
"We need to increase access to drugs and especially those for chronic and serious illnesses. Generics are a key means of increasing access to healthcare for the public and in particular the most disadvantaged people in society," he says.
However, some laboratories which produce branded drugs are against the idea of producing generics en masse. According to medical representative Fatima Ayyachi, laboratories strive to earn the loyalty of doctors who prescribe name-brand drugs. "Laboratories are doing everything they can to consolidate their position," she said.
Meanwhile, the president of the executive committee of the Pan-African Treatment Access Movement, Othman Mellouk, told Magharebia that generics cannot be promoted without tackling the issue of patents, a major hurdle. He explained that since the adoption of the Free Trade Agreement between Morocco and the United States, Morocco has gone from having a patent-free system to a restrictive system which must be relaxed if the generics market is to grow.
"We need to promote [generics] in order to encourage Moroccans to seek healthcare, particularly for chronic illnesses. Many Moroccans go without treatment because of the staggering cost of drugs," Dr. Mohamed Serghini told Magharebia. "Generic drugs have the same effect as branded ones. The only difference is in terms of price."
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BEN Posted 2008-05-03
Promoting generic medicines does not mean that they are of the lowest quality. If the welfare agencies take charge of their purchases, they would be even better. That is why we need to wait for France to do this first… so that we can follow behind them like usual. At least once, we could co-operate with Algeria, which has a very solid social system in terms of solidarity. Bravo Algerians!
كمال Posted 2008-05-03
We thank the brothers responsible for this site. We ask God that it will be one of the tools to unite the word of Muslims all over the world, especially in North Africa. May the Republic of Western Sahara be liberated.
mohamed Posted 2008-05-04
There should be a very strong relationship within the Maghreb union, thank you.
AS Posted 2008-05-04
I do not understand how you can talk about relaxing regulations on patents. You are talking about turning Morocco to illegality. Laboratories should invent, research and develop just for someone else to cash in on it? Why would they do research then? Be serious. Stop looking for problems where there are none. We do not to misdirect this debate. We need first of all to cover Moroccans, reimburse them for their expenses (for example: X-rays, analysis, consultations, hospitalisation, operations and so on)!!! Medicine represents ten per cent of the world’s expenses. Since when did generic medicine become a solution? It is not even a solution in France where they have the right to substitute. Nor in Spain, where generic medicines are more aggressive. Miss Baddou announced one more thing: Moroccans could all be taken care of and reimbursed by the fat cat. Public hospitals are not for the public; they require payment!!! Instead of looking for flaws in generic medicines and our principles, make healthcare free again for the entire public healthcare structure. And then, we will hear of some good intentions. Re-motivate the doctors, nurses and healthcare personnel whom we can consult in public or private without preference. Pfff! All this talk is overwhelming me.
manal Posted 2008-09-05
Super, God bless you.
manal Posted 2008-09-05
This is good. This means that you provide more news than 2M. In addition to news, you can present articles which cover advice in all fields!!!
ikram Posted 2008-09-11
We must take into consideration the poor people and not just the pharmaceutical labs, which have as their essential goal making profit and not the curing of illnesses. We need to use these medicines because the have they same effect as the others, the only difference being their price. Simple antibiotics cost at least 200 dirhams; with these medicines they you can save at least 100 dirhams.
nana Posted 2008-10-29
I hope that you will think firstly of the medical care and offer it freely. Poor people need firstly someone to treat them before thinking of generic or non generic medicines.
LAMIRI Mustapha Posted 2008-12-17
Good evening- Frankly, I do not believe the rumours saying that medicine produced in Morocco does not respect the norms. There is no reason to approach the quality and credibility of some Moroccan products, and the pharmaceutical industry has a very good reputation, having the best performance. Moreover, in order to learn more about generic products, I have sent you a link to a website at the end of this comment, wherein there is a list that ranks generic drugs in alphabetic order with the name of the “original” medicine that corresponds to it just beside. If, for example, the doctor prescribed you 500mg of Amoxicillin, then this would correspond to 500mg of the antibiotic Clamoxyl. Or, if your doctor prescribed Bi Tildiem and the pharmacist delivered you Diltaziem, then it is the same thing, just generic, and he is thus obliged to inform you of this. (http://afssaps.sante.fr/htm/5/generiq/fic02grp.txt.) -Sincerely, Mustapha Lamiri
LAMIRI Mustapha Posted 2008-12-17
Hello- I am also sending you the website address that has the list of ingredients with known effects. These ingredients can be in both the generic and original medicine. (http://pla.ce.bo.free.fr/excipients_a_effet%20_notoire.pdf) -Mustapha Lamiri
Anonymous Posted 2009-01-08
Hello- I believe that most Moroccan citizens own unused medicine. My proposal is to help the poorest populations with these unused medicines by redistributing them.
LAMIRI Mustapha Posted 2009-01-08
Hi- Most Moroccans have unused medicines in their homes that end up in the trash. I propose creating a centre that is in charge of collecting unused medicines for free in each city in order to serve the poor. –Best regards, Mustapha Lamiri
kebbaj Posted 2009-01-18
Generic drugs are less active than the original drugs.
Mehdi Posted 2009-01-25
Doctors have a responsibility to their patients. The know how to tell the difference between a patient who has recovered and a patient who has not. Most have acknowledged being disappointed by generic medicines and their supposed comparability to the original. And, because of this, the doctor works at two speeds, prescribing the original if the prognosis is serious and generics if the sickness is common and would often go away even without treatment. Generic medicine costs 50 dirhams as compared to the 80 dirhams the original costs. The later is only a bit more effective, but this does not matter because it is too expensive for the patient, both in terms of his income and in terms of his health. Should we wait until the future in order to see the harm caused by a false economy suggested by generic medicines and encouraged by the Ministry, whose only care is dirhams? And, this is in spite of the diseases whose forms are known to be changing today and the diseases that are being created. Who can are scientists such as doctors able to believe without any clinical trials that a “medicine that has not even been tested on guinea pigs and is directly consumed by patients” is comparable to a product that has cured thousands of patients? Have we not already experienced generic drugs that were sold (and thus controlled) and yet were removed from pharmacies for “non-conformance to consumer regulations”? At this stage, how can we confirm their comparability to a product, the original medicine, that has offered satisfaction for years? At this rhythm, tomorrow we would have to treat a small case of bronchitis with products designed for resuscitation or call these research laboratories to make us medicines made so that they cannot be copied by generic-medicine manufacturers, something that will have us paying an exorbitant price or even paying with our “lives”. That is what the healthcare economy is.
khalid Posted 2009-02-19
I want please the address of a gynaecologist and information about the topic, thank you.
LAMIRI Mustapha Posted 2009-04-18
“I hope that you will think firstly of medical care and offer it freely. Poor people need firstly someone to treat them before thinking about generic or non-generic medicines.” You are right, but how do we do this? We are accustomed to hearing and reading these messages, but, when it comes down to it, very little ever comes to light, especially in the field of healthcare. As for those who are speaking about the Sahara, there is no “generic Sahara”, only the Moroccan Sahara!
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