For the past three days, companies importing medicine and infant milk, along with agents, have stopped delivering their orders to pharmacies. This time, the halt in deliveries is not backed by the justifications they used in previous periods, such as delays in transactions at the Central Bank of Lebanon or the rationing of global companies for their orders. Instead, it has been "blunt and explicit," according to pharmacists who have learned from several companies about the decision to stop deliveries due to manipulation of the US dollar exchange rate and their unwillingness to absorb further losses.
The decision was clear: no medicine will be delivered unless the Ministry of Public Health issues a new indicator to set the dollar price for medicines in accordance with the rise in the black market dollar, especially with the recent changes in the exchange rate in the last medicine index, which saw an increase of 12%. This contradicts the "custom" established between the ministry and companies, which stipulates that the index should be adjusted whenever the exchange rate changes by 5% (up or down). The companies' obstinacy has caused turmoil in the medicine market, particularly among pharmacy owners who have not received their new orders, amidst a rush from citizens to purchase medicines out of fear of shortages. This prompted the Ministry of Health yesterday to issue a new index, setting the dollar price for medicines at 45,000 Lebanese pounds, which reduces the discrepancies between the two dollar rates.
While the decision to adjust the index may relieve the medicine market, as some companies may resume deliveries to pharmacies, as confirmed by the president of the Pharmacists Syndicate in Lebanon, Joe Slum, there are two main obstacles to this return: First, today's solutions are partial, and it will return to square one as long as the dollar is not stable and there are no long-term solutions. The second obstacle is the certainty among many pharmacists that this decision will not change anything, especially since it coincides with the annual procedures for companies importing medicines and infant milk that require stopping deliveries in the period preceding the New Year's holiday to carry out "accounting."
According to pharmacists, the issuance of the decision is as good as not issuing it, as some companies will only deliver a few orders to "silence the pharmacists," while others have exploited the situation, informing their pharmacy clients that they stopped in order to conduct an inventory. Some pharmacists believe this situation is "profitable for the companies, as they are not obliged to deliver their goods at the lower prices, especially with the rising dollar."
Thus, with or without the index, companies have made their decision to halt deliveries, foreshadowing an impending crisis during the holiday period, which seems particularly severe regarding infant milk. One pharmacist points out that "the biggest crisis is in infant milk for children under one year, which is still subsidized. Companies that have been accustomed to dictating to us what we should order, specifying the type of milk and the suitable quota for us, will not deliver anything today, meaning there will be no type of milk available in the market in the upcoming period."
