First, the report stated that “a major responsibility lies with the greed of importers and warehouse owners, some of whom store medicines…”. It is important for the Syndicate to mention that accusing importers of storing medicine is an old-new accusation that has nothing to do with the truth and is pure slander. The Syndicate reminds that the stock of drug importers is fully and regularly declared by the Ministry of Health on the Meditrack system, and if there was any storage with importers, the Ministry would have intervened immediately to redistribute these drugs.
Second, the report referred to “the refusal of importers and warehouse owners to take responsibility in light of the collapse and they blamed the patient alone on the consequences of the predicament” and “the claim that the delay in import occurred despite obtaining approvals from the bank… and that what they received from the bank so far regarding the previous dues.. .No. It’s not easy.” Everyone knows that when the decision was in the hands of the importer only, all medicines were available, as well as the reserve stock in order to meet the needs of patients in the event of an emergency that delays the arrival of shipments of medicines. Today, the decision is not with the importer with regard to fully or partially subsidized medicines, but with the Ministry of Public Health and the Banque du Liban, who determine the types and quantities that can be imported and do their best to overcome the crisis within the limits of their ability. As for the role of the importer, it begins when it obtains prior approvals, which is a mandatory permission to import certain types and quantities of fully or partially subsidized medicines. How can an importer prepare a shipment before fixing the items and quantities that are allowed to be imported?
Third, the report stated that “importers and warehouse owners hand over patients in the private sector before they deliver patients to the ministry.” The syndicate assures that importers do not mind handing over medicines to the Ministry of Health, of course. But everyone knows that the ministry has not had an adequate budget since the second half of the year 2021, that is, when Dr. Firas Abyad received the ministry, as there was little left in its budget… The minister asked the importing companies to hand over medicines to the ministry despite the absence of this budget , provided that this takes place at the request of the Council of Ministers, when it meets once more, to open the budget of the Ministry of Health to carry out the legal procedures related to the purchase of these medicines. This is what the companies have done and are currently doing, at the request of the Minister of Health.
In conclusion, everyone knows that the main problem for medicines in Lebanon today is funding and nothing else. The sum of all the funds available for support today is only $25 million per month, and everyone knows that this amount is not sufficient to secure the total needs of the Lebanese for medicine. Therefore, everyone must work together to secure additional funding, if we really want to provide our Lebanese patients with safety, and to import these medicines without interruption.
Pharmaceutical Importers Syndicate
warehouse owners
