KOBANI, Syria (North Press) – A quarter of Hasan Issa’s monthly salary goes towards his daughter’s medication. Some months, he is unable to get together the money and is forced to borrow it.
Issa, 43, an employee from Kobani, northern Syria, has a child who suffers from convulsion and is dependent on medication. He finds it increasingly difficult to find the money, as medicine prices have risen, while his salary has remained the same.
It has been made worse by a January 17 decision issued by the Ministry of Health of the Syrian government which increased prices of several thousand medicines by up to 85 percent.
Issa told North Press that the medicine that he used to buy at 80.000 SYP ($12) per box a week ago is now priced at 120.000 SYP ($18). It is impossible for him to afford but, nevertheless, he must scrap together the amount every month.
His monthly salary is 400.000 SYP ($60). He now spends 120.000 SYP ($18) a month on medication. That leaves the family 250-300.000 SYP ($38-45) to get by.
Issa, who is a father of six, added that there is a clinic and a hospital in which medication is handed out for free, though not all kinds of medication are available there.
Residents can no longer afford life’s bare necessities, Issa says. Living conditions are deteriorating while the price of food and rent have risen.
Ali Muhammad, 75, from Kobani, bought medicine for 19.000 SYP ($2,90) this week. Ten days ago, the same medication was being sold at 12.000 SYP ($1,80). He paid 12.000 SYP for another drug which was 8.000 SYP ($1,20) before.
Demands
Both men demand that the Autonomous Administration of North and East Syria (AANES) solve this issue by establishing a local pharmaceutical company, as the drugs from government-held areas are too expensive.
Muhammad said that the costs of his medication increased by 75 percent and added that there are people in even worse circumstances than his who cannot afford to buy their much-needed medication.
Omar Sheikho, 53, an employee in Kobani, has a chronic heart condition and is forced to buy medicine on a regular basis.
He used to buy a box of medicine for 2.000 SYP ($0,30). It has more than doubled, to 5.000 SYP ($0,75).
He cannot afford to buy it on his current salary.
Employees are Most Affected
Sheikho said that a month earlier he had bought a box of medicine for his son for 6.000 SYP ($0,90), but that it now cost 10.000 SYP ($1,50).
Kobani’s employees, daily workers, and low-income citizens are the worst affected by rising prices.
Sheikho demands a solution be found, or that prices be lowered by decree.
Adel Kurdi, a pharmacist in Kobani, noted that, over a week ago, the medication from pharmaceutical companies in Damascus and Aleppo had increased.
This is not the first time prices increased. A little over a month ago, they had gone up by 30 percent.
In mid-December 2022, the Syrian ministry of Health raised the price of 20 different drugs. In February 2022, the prices had increased by 30-40 percent.
The Reason
Syria’s imports are paid in dollars. As the pound has depreciated, pharmaceutical companies in Aleppo and Damascus have raised prices accordingly, Kurdi added.
As prices increased by 100 percent, most people tried to obtain free medication from public hospitals and clinics, which further negatively affected pharmacies, says Kurdi.