REPORTING. "As soon as the money comes, it leaves immediately" : in Türkiye, the surge in drug prices worries
This is a figure scrutinized in Türkiye: the government must announce the annual inflation figure. The country is still struggling with an economic crisis that has brought the population to its knees and an inflationary spiral that is struggling to reverse itself. Inflation was officially 65% last year, twice as high according to independent economists and the government is unlikely to announce any relief for this year.
Food remains a sensitive area, with an 80% increase in Istanbul in particular, but there is another affected sector that is less talked about, that of medicines. Nurten, 84, can’t take it anymore: “I’ve been taking care of my sick and bedridden husband for 10 years. And if you only knew how much it costs me! The government only gives us the price of a diaper, how do you expect me to get by with that! The diapers come from Europe, as does the ointment.”
In the pharmaceutical field, as in so many others, Turkey depends on imports. In recent months there have been shortages of antibiotics, cough syrup, cancer drugs… and the fall of the Turkish lira is taking its toll. The unrealistic exchange rate offered to foreign laboratories by the government led many of them to withdraw from the Turkish market. Nurten sometimes has to go to more than ten pharmacies to find what she needs at a reasonable price. And rail against the government. “I bought thirty vials for my husband’s treatment at the pharmacy. It costs 300 pounds (the equivalent of 9 euros, editor’s note). I only had 200, but, as they know me, they gave me a credit of 100 pounds and I was able to go and pay today. As soon as the money arrives, it immediately leaves. And the state gives us nothing !“
This is often the problem in the medical sector too. Nuray Kozonoglu runs a pharmacy in the center. She juggles with generics, has registered on a WhatsaApp loop of 300 pharmacists who help each other in the event of a shortage. But this is not enough. “Inflation of course affects medicines, she explains. The State reimburses part of it but for some the rest is very significant.”
However, their consumption exploded with the crisis: +75% in 10 years. Financial difficulties, unemployment, anxiety about the future… Turks today consume 65.5 million boxes of antidepressants compared to 37 million in 2013.
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