Afghanistan annualy spends on import of medicines and medical equipment about 20% of the budget

Almaty. February 27. Silkroadnews - Afghanistan imports medicines and medical equipment worth more than $1 billion, which is about 20% of the country's budget, repoted the Afghan News Agency (AfTAG).
This statement was made by the head of the Manufacturers Association of Afghanistan Ahmad Sakhi Payman. He believes that the cost of imports could be reduced by half if the government supported by the manufacturer of drugs and medical equipment in the past 13 years-since the overthrow of the Taliban regime.
According to experts, drugs purchased in Pakistan and India, can be produced in Afghanistan. As a rule it is generic.
In turn, the head of the Department of Pharmacy of the Ministry of Health Abdul Hafiz Kurash explained that Kabul, has no industrial parks, which could be used for the production of medicines.
According to media reports, in Afghanistan tatally operates 20 small pharmaceutical companies. For comparison, there are about 5000 pharmaceutical companies in Pakistan and over 10 thousand in India.
Recall, recently the lower house of parliament - the Wolesi Jirga approved a government project budget for the current fiscal year, totaling $7.62 billion.