(MENAFN- Morocco World News) Moroccans spend MAD 400 (about $40) on drugs every year according to statistics from the Moroccan Association of the Pharmaceutical Industry (AMIP).
In its Tuesday edition the Moroccan daily newspaper Assabah reported that Moroccans spend less on their health while they spent more money on telecommunication services and religious ceremonies. The statistics released by AMIP showed that Moroccans spend MAD 700 (about $70) on phone service and Internet access and MAD 2500 (about $250) to buy the sheep required for the celebration of the Eid Al Adha every year. Despite the decline in medicine prices last year andthe establishment different health insurances including RAMED (a health insurance for poor families) Moroccans still consume no more than MAD 400 per person on drugs per year. This budget on health is 'very low' according to some professionals in the health sector. Moroccans are expected to spend more on their health given the fact that more than 60 percent of Moroccans have now access to health coverage. Health Minister Hossine El Ouardi said last year that 60 percent of Moroccans now have access to health coverage with 34 percent using health insurance plans through the compulsory health insurance system which has been available since 2005. 28 percent have insurance through the Medical Assistance Plan known as RAMED. As part of its policy of reducing medicine prices to make them more accessible to citizens and alleviate the expenses of health insurance Morocco's Health Ministry lowered the prices of 98 drugs last year followinga decrease in the prices of nearly 1600 drugs in 2014.
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