The purchase budget of the central pharmacy of Tunisia (PCT) experienced a spectacular flight, going from 30 million dinars in 2021 to 300 million dinars in 2024.
A dizzying increase revealed by the director general of the institution, Chokri Hammouda, during an interview with the Tunis-Afrique-Presse agency (TAP). Even more alarming, only sixteen drugs concentrate 250 million dinars of this invoice.
Faced with this inflation of expenses, several avenues are envisaged to limit the impact on public finances. Rationalize medical prescriptions by favoring less expensive treatments but of equivalent efficiency appears to be a priority.
The introduction of suitable therapeutic protocols would allow doctors to optimize the use of available medicines, taking into account national stocks and approved prices. Hammouda also highlights the potential of genomic medicine, a personalized approach that could improve the effectiveness of treatments while reducing waste.
Another size challenge: the cost of pharmaceutical imports, which weighs 180 million dinars on the budget. To remedy this, the PCT plans to align the prices of imported drugs on those of locally manufactured products. A measure that could lead to an increase for certain treatments, but which aims to support the Tunisian pharmaceutical industry and to reduce dependence on foreign suppliers.
