Iran Plans National Drugs Organization

Iran's Minister of Health, Mohammad Farhadi, says his Ministry islooking to establish a national organization to oversee the production of pharmaceuticals in Iran, reports the IRNA news agency.

The new body will have the task of developing Iran's drug industry, and addressing issues related to infant nutrition, health food production, food hygiene and environmental health. Iran will increase production of drug raw materials substantially so that imports of these products will fall to a quarter of current levels, he said.

The Minister said Iran allocated $1 billion for drugs and medicines imports in the last Iranian year (March 21, 1996-March 20, 1997). However, because of higher domestic drug production, the amount allocated for drug imports in the current Iranian year (March 21, 1997-March 20, 1998) has gone down to just $400 million.