The Minister of Health and Social Protection, Khalid Aït Taleb, and the Minister in charge of the budget, Fouzi Lekjaa, are finalizing a crucial social decision concerning the reduction of the value-added tax on medicines and the reduction of fees on health products, medical and paramedical supplies.
An official source said that this decision will be announced in the draft project of the finance bill 2023 and complies with the royal instructions of King Mohammed VI, which put the health and access of citizens to health care at the center of national concerns.
The same source confirmed that this decision, which a large working group worked on under the supervision of Khalid Aït Taleb, and Fouzi Lekjaa, will reduce medicines’ prices. The measure also concerns importing health products and medical and paramedical supplies, enabling citizens to get them at reasonable prices.
The Ministry of Health and Social Protection had previously announced taking urgent measures to create and secure the national strategic stockpile of medicines and health products vulnerable to shortages or disruptions for the year 2023, to prevent and mitigate any supply difficulty. He thereby announced the establishment of a steering committee comprising all stakeholders to determine the needs for medicines and health products related to this stockpile, including drugs of primary therapeutic importance.