Facing Saudi-led Siege, National Strategy is to Substitute Imported Medicines

YemenExtra

Adviser to the Yemeni Pharmaceutical Manufacturers Union, Abdul Rahman Al-Olfi, confirmed that there is currently a national strategy based on replacing a number of pharmaceutical brands with their imported equivalents.

Al-Olfi explained that there are more than 1,160 types of medicines in Yemen that can be produced with high quality in local factories including heart diseases and diabetes.

He pointed out that with regard to the local product, it is required that raw materials be imported from international companies. He noted that in the field of the pharmaceutical industry, there are international companies specialized in the production of raw materials, which are still monopolized by these companies, and many countries depend on their production.

He said that the pharmaceutical industry is a strategic industry that must develop along with science and technology in Yemeni universities, and if our universities can keep pace with this development, then local industries will make a qualitative leap.

He indicated that there is a new list that includes 14 medicinal groups, consisting of 62 types of items that are imported, which will be produced locally, and their import will be phased out under the directives of the President.

Al-Olfi pointed out that doctors and pharmacists have begun to feel a sense of belonging because the pharmaceutical industry is part of the national identity and it must be strengthened, and this is the state’s policy now.