The improvements in daily life that the population, who have remained in place throughout more than twelve years of conflict, hoped for, following Syria’s return to the Arab League in May, are long overdue. In a climate of galloping inflation, marked by an acceleration of the fall of the Syrian pound against the dollar, the president of the pharmacists’ union, Hassan Derwan, announced on August 9 a 50% increase in the price of medicines, by government decision. Their cost had already increased a few months ago, from 50% to 80%.
The measure was demanded by the pharmaceutical industry with ancient know-how – almost autonomous before the war, Syria then produced around 90% of its medicines. Today, producers must import raw materials in foreign currency; however, the dollar, which was exchanged against 47 Syrian pounds before the war, is now worth more than 14,000. And companies are also facing the soaring price of fuel oil to run their generators. This new, expected rise in the price of medicines is yet another calamity for a society that is out of breath: more than 90% of Syrians live below the poverty line, according to the UN.
“Many self-medicate today, unable to pay for a medical consultation. They come to seek advice from the pharmacy. Customers turn back after inquiring about the price of a medicine because it is too expensive for them, explains Inaam, a pharmacist in Damascus, reached by telephone. However, the rise is not as violent as that of the prices of food or gasoline. » According to this professional, who only gave her first name, “There are no drug shortages in Damascus. But, if the prices are not further adjusted, the quality of the products is likely to decline. »
Syrian media, pro-regime or pro-opposition, have echoed, in recent months, the distrust of patients worried about the decline in the effectiveness of local drugs and question the conditions of manufacture.
“All forms of trauma”
In the social center that she runs in Tartous, on the Syrian coast, Sister Marie Arbash sees increasingly destitute families. “People can no longer afford the cost of chronic treatments, for hypertension, for example. The price of surgery or cancer care has skyrocketed, she comments on the phone. And it is more difficult for the needy to find assistance: donors only assume a small part of the cost of a medical intervention, there are fewer aid centers because the war is supposed to be over, and people can work. But the cost of living is unbearable, with the soaring dollar. »
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