Egypt waives customs on some medications for chronic diseases

Egypt issued a presidential decree cancelling custom taxes on imported medications for incurable, chronic, psychiatric and neurological diseases in an attempt by the state to lower the prices of medications used by millions of Egyptians.

The move also aims to fix some imbalances in the current custom legislations for it to be consistent with international treaties signed by Egypt, according to a statement by presidential spokesman Alaa Youssef on Sunday.

The decision will also cover medications for tumors and organ transplantation, heart, blood vessels, and bilharzia, contraception.

Millions of Egyptians suffer from a variety of chronic diseases and relatively high drug prices.