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| Iran’s 5-month medicine imports up 9% |
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TEHRAN – Iran’s imports of medicine rose by 9 percent in the first five months of the current Iranian calendar year, which began on March 21, a 9 percent growth year on year.
Medicine imports amounted to $479 million in the 5-month period, according to the Fars News Agency.
In May, IRNA reported that Iran has allocated $157 million to import medicine and medical equipment since the beginning of the current Iranian calendar year.
Some $1.6 billion has also been allocated to import staple foods, the report added.
Iran’s Health Ministry official Hossein Ayati has said some 97 percent of Iran’s required medicine is currently produced domestically.
About 50 percent of necessary raw material for producing the medicine is imported, he added. Last year, some $1.7 billion was allocated to import medicine which is not produced inside the country, the official said.
In November 2012, Iran’s health ministry called the central bank to earmark $2 billion for importing medicine to cope with the domestic shortage as a result of the international sanctions.
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