One% Added to the Bill of Yemeni Communications Cards to be for Cancer Patients
YemenExtra
SH.A.
The Ministry of Communications and Information Technology (MCIT) on Sunday issued a circular for the establishment and the telecommunications companies by adding one percent to the bill of communications of all kinds and prepaid cards, for cancer patients.
The Ministry of Communications has decided to start implementing this From the beginning of April 2019.
The circular called on companies and telecommunications companies to commit to calculating the specified percentage and the payment of the amounts received for the Fund.
The High Commission of Medicines and Medical Supplies in the capital Sana’a has released the latest statistics of repercussions and consequences of Saudi-led coalition war on the pharmaceutical sector in Yemen during four years of the war and siege.
“The Saudi-led coalition warplanes have bombed three pharmaceutical factories, using air strikes, which have caused serious damage and destroyed two oxygen production plants, which have been providing services to several hospitals, health centers and facilities, this led to the suspension of investment activity, especially in the field of pharmaceutical manufacturing, ” the commission said in its current report on the damages and losses of the sector.
“The Saudi-led coalition war on Yemen and total siege imposed by the coalition countries have aggravated the health situation, caused a high increase of chronic diseases, multiple epidemics, acute drug shortages, and the destruction of warehouses and pharmaceutical factories, which have caused the rise of civilian casualties,” the Commission added.
The Commission also said that 120 kinds of chronic disease medicines are currently not available in the Ministry of Health stores, especially 50% cancer medications, which has caused the death toll to increase due to the difficulty of providing medicines, as well as the high price of medicines due to the increased shipping cost and high exchange rate.
“The import rate of medicines has decreased to approximately 60% of the average import during the years prior to the aggression,” the Commission added.
The report confirmed that “the blockade has resulted in the prohibition of the entry of certain medical materials for pharmaceutical industries from various Yemeni ports, and obstruction of the arrival of shipments and medical supplies that have been granted approval documents for importation and entry into Yemen, and the imposition of restrictions and arbitrary measures on ships loaded with medications.”
On the same level, the Authority noted the effects of the Health Center bank’s transfer from the capital Sana’a to Aden province, and said: “It has had a significant impact on the lack of medicines needed by the public sector, which were provided by the Ministry of Health to more than 800,000 patients with various chronic afflictions such as kidney transplantation, diabetes, heart disease and cancer.”
“It also affected the interruption of the activity of hundreds of importers due to the conditions imposed by the aggression and the disturbance of the medicines due to the exchange rate disorder.”