AR
UR
Over the past 11 years, the UAE Ministry of Health and Prevention (MoHAP) has launched over nine initiatives to reduce the prices of medicines in pharmacies. According to the Ministry, a discount rate of upto 78 percent of the actual price of some medicines was also started by the government to allow all community members to afford the medicines.
Addressing a meeting of the Federal National Council (FNC), Abdul Rahman bin Muhammad Al Owais, the Minister of Health and Prevention, underlined that in July 2011 an initiative was launched to reduce the prices of 565 types of medicines with discount rates from 5 percent to 60 percent.
"At the beginning of January 2012, prices of 115 medicines were reduced with discount rates from 5 per cent to 50 per cent," he added.
This statement came in response to a question by FNC member Muhammad Issa Al Kashf about the prices of drugs for chronic diseases in pharmacies. Al Owais further noted that on June 1, 2013, the prices of 6,791 types of innovative and similar medicines were dropped from 5 percent to 60 percent.
Furthermore, at the beginning of 2014, prices of 207 medicines were reduced with discount rates from 5 percent to 60 percent. In February 2015, the prices of 280 types of innovative medicines were decreased with an increase in discount rate from 5 percent to 60 per cent.
The beginning of January 2016 saw the prices of 142 medicines reducing and rise in discount rate from 5 percent to 50 percent. In September same year, the prices of 657 types of medicines were revised with similar discount rate, the Minister added.
The Ministry additionally reduced prices of 410 types of medicines with a discount rate from 2 percent to 77 percent in the next year.
In January 2020, the prices of 573 types of similar medicines saw a major reduction at a discount rate between 5 percent to 78 percent.
Unified medical file system
During the meeting, Abdul Rahman bin Muhammad Al Owais also pointed out that the authorities have designed a new unified medical file system aimed at linking all hospitals and allowing them access to medical records of patients. The project is currently underway. In addition, all public hospitals will be connected to the new system by the end of 2022.
The MoHAP launched the implementation of the electronic unified health file system to connect all government hospitals in the country at the beginning of 2020. However, the COVID-19 pandemic hindered the process towards complete integration.
Before the COVID-19 outbreak, the ministry was able to complete the addition of 10 million medical files within the new electronic health care platform, he added.
He further explained the significance of the new system which will provide updated data for patient records, including their medical history and medications prescribed to them, laboratory analysis results and referrals. All the data related to patient's medical history will be accessible to government hospitals and private sector hospitals.
The system is using Artificial intelligence (AI) mechanism to link all government and private hospitals to through the access of information on patients in a standardised record file.
SOURCE: Khaleej Times