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Feb 15. 2024
The Egyptian chamber of commerce's pharmaceuticals division said this month that the main problem was a shortage of US dollars to pay for imports of medications and for raw materials for local manufacturers.
The shortages have been getting worse since early last year and are now at a "critical level", Dr Noha El Sayed, who runs a pharmacy in Cairo's Heliopolis district, told The National.
“About 80 per cent of our listed medications are not available," she said.
A number of broad-spectrum antibiotics, including Augmentin and Zithromax, have also disappeared from Egyptian pharmacy shelves, according to Dr El Sayed, in addition to tablet-form cancer medications.
Intravenous cancer medications are still provided at specialised hospitals, according to Dr El Sayed. However, some patients who need the medicine in pill form have begun to buy them via unofficial channels.
Black-market varieties of well-known brands, which may be expired or cut with additional substances, are circulating. Some Egyptians are resorting to unofficial versions of insulin, thyroid treatments and blood pressure disorder medications as the verified versions of these crucial medicines become less available.
Aside from being 10 times their listed prices in some cases, according to Dr El Sayed, black-market products are unregulated.
Local manufacturers have been unable to fill the growing gap between demand and supply due to increasing operation costs and a heavy reliance on imported components, Dr El Sayed said, emphasising that the availability of dollars and the high price paid to acquire them are the root of the problem.
The continuing shortages have reduced pharmacies’ profits, hitting cash flow and further reducing their ability to buy stock from importers and large-scale manufacturers.
Pharmacies have also suffered from continued price caps on medications, despite suppliers selling their medicines to pharmacies at higher prices.
The Egyptian health ministry issues price lists on medications in Egypt and regulates pharmacies to ensure they do not charge customers more than what they paid to suppliers, Dr El Sayed said.
“Most of our profits are made on cosmetics and beauty products, which have tripled in price in most cases.
"Today a lot of the old laws aren't quite operational any more because of the instability in the markets and the exchange rate. Suppliers are now selling to the highest bidder and they are not favouring public hospitals," Dr Moharrem said.
https://www.thenationalnews.com/mena/egypt/2024/02/15/medicine-shortages-cairo-diabetes-drugs/
Siko, if this an accurate portrayal of life on the ground for ordinary Egyptians then isn't it time Sisi allow USD/EGP trade without artificial restrictions? Otherwise Sisi is responsible for all the misery and illnesses that continue to go untreated - and the black market trade will only increase as Egyptians will not just lay down and die to follow the Pharaoh's
Cowichan,
Actually I'm a pharmacist in both the UK and Egypt, and I could explain to you in full details about this.
Yes, there is a shortage of some medicines in Egypt, but obviously not 80% or anywhere near that, otherwise pharmacies would have closed down by now if they run the business on 20% availability. This is the head of the medicine trade union stating the shortage is around 8-10%
https://www.almasryalyoum.com/news/details/3092953
I don't know if you are fortunate enough not to take any medication in England, but there is a shortage of medication in the UK too, and you could ask any pharmacy near you. Ask them about diabetic injections, steroids creams, adrenaline injections, ADHD medication, psoriasis shampoos, steroids nasal sprays, antifungal shampoos, etc ..
As for Egypt, yes there is a shortage, but as I said, nowhere near 80%, and it's for many reasons.
One of them of course is as you mentioned the shortage of dollars to import medicines, but what you don't know is that Egypt's prescribing is by brand name, and many people would not accept alternatives made by other companies, while in the UK prescribing is by the active ingredients, so we give any product available containing the same ingredient, which makes any shortage less obvious. It's like the doctor prescribed Calpol, and there are many other products containing paracetamol, but the patient would only want Calpol the brand, it's imported and in short supply, but many local products are available.. so most of the short medicines have alternatives. Of course some don't have the exact alternative, in that case the doctor changes the medication. We do that in the UK on a daily basis.
My mum in Egypt takes around 12 medication, and recently 2 of them she could not get the exact medication she is used to take, but was sorted by alternatives..
There are many other reasons other than the dollar shortage, but this is not the place to explain them as this is not relevant at all.
Egypt is a third world country, you have to expect and accept that many things to be far worse than first world countries like the UK.. if you are not prepared to accept that for the country where you are investing, then I would suggest you don't consider investing there, because many things will never change, and you maybe better off looking for investment in the UK or USA. Focusing all your efforts on highlighting how bad the country is will not help you with your investment (If you are looking to invest).
I travel frequently between both the UK and Egypt, when I do, it's like travelling between different planets, but I accept the goods and bads in each, try to adopt and enjoy my time wherever I'm. I don't know if you know, but the UK is very bad at many things too, I don't need to list them as we all know..
Life is hard everywhere now, people in the UK (1st world country) go to food banks.
Siko, by his own admission The protaganst you have been trying to explain to, is not invested in Centamin, strange ? I know.
But obviously gets some" pleasure" posting its thoughts,for others to be amazed by its intellegence.
Have a good day, to you and family and when things seem bad there is always hope for improvement.
Mr Bond,
I'm not attacking Cowichan or intimidating him.. not at all.. but I live between both countries and witness myself what's going on in Egypt..
Many people in Egypt live the best life, and many can't get food on the table.. The same in the UK, but different standards of course..
It all depends on what you are trying to highlight..
As for you Cowichan, It looks like the only reason for your postings over the last 2 years is to warn people about investing in Centamin/Egypt.. which is quite odd.. you have not posted one good post about Egypt/Centamin since you sold.. is that how you see things in both? Zero positive?
I'm currently not a holder, but I only post when I see posts that are not fair or highlight one side.. they could be true, but not showing the whole picture .. I don't come out of the blue and say look at this great news, because I know there are good and bad, but it's not fair to highlight only one.. it's actually misleading..
I'm not saying don't post, not at all, because this is a public forum for everyone to share their thoughts, holders and non-holders, I'm explaining the reasons for my replies..
You misunderstand me Siko, Pardon me , I am certainly not saying you are attacking and certainly not intimidating anyone.
Far from it.
Yes all all allowed to post whatever they like, with little fear of LSE doing anything these days.
DID is possible.
Hi Siko, Cowichan & Mr Bond,
Personally I don't see anything wrong with Cowichan or anyone else asking Centamin questions and lets face it they should at least acknowledge receiving them and if they are unable to give a full answer then answer politely as to the reason why, failure to do so can only raise suspicions that the company isn't being honest.
I also think it is to be commended if, after all people have the honesty to admit to be shareholders or not, if there is to be a policy of only those that hold share can post on here, or ask questions then surely the same policy should apply to the traders on here who claim to make profits by jumping in and out, i.e. if the no holder, no poster rule should be applied then when they bail out until the price drops for a new entry point then in that time until they buy in again they shouldn't post at all, but as that isn't the case then there isn't any reason why shouldn't Cowichan post whilst he may also be waiting to buy in again.
I have been critical of Centamin and I am still apprehensive about believing that we are being given the full picture , we were lied to far many too many times in the past for that , but then I have a considerable number of shares and so I have no qualms about expressing my dissatisfaction and of course my satisfaction when I feel it is appropriate.
At the present the service from Centamin Investor Relations is complete pants and I feel there is room for great improvement in the company performance, I await the March update !
Also I don't subscribe to the idea that one should only talk about Centamin shares on here and the idea that one can regard any shares as being ring-fenced from what is going on in the rest of the world is ludicrous to say the least.