Patients of Cancer, Kidney, Liver and Heart are waiting medications, which are connected to the payment of the Ministry of Health debts to the pharmaceutical supplying companies at a value of NIS 310 million.

Ansar Tomaizi - Palestine Economy Portal

In this context, Muhanned Habash, Executive Director for the Federation of Suppliers of Medicines and Medical Equipments said that in previous years, the Ministry of Health used to announce tenders for the supply of medicines in exchange to repay part of the debts to the companies, due to the financial crisis of the Palestinian National Authority "PNA", which was unable to pay all the dues.

But during the last three years, the Ministry began to reduce its payments to medicine supplying companies and started to increase the financial value of receivables, which raised the irritation of the supplying companies and made them feel threatened due to the accumulation of their debts as a result of the financial crisis facing the Palestinian National Authority.

The Supplying Companies have recently warned the Ministry of Health, the Ministry of Finance and the Prime Minister Office of the risk of the inability of the companies to participate in the biddings forcibly, but according to Habash, the government did not consider these warnings seriously.

In an exclusive interview with the Palestine Economic Gate, Habash stated that the drug supplying companies have convened with Dr. Jawad Awwad, Minister of Health and informed him that they will not be able to participate in 2015 biddings, as a result of the financial crisis facing the Ministry.

According to Habash the supplying companies have tried to survive the financial crisis by resorting to the banks, but in its turn the banks have refused to grant them further loans, claiming that it would become like a "Financial Drain".

Habash confirmed that the supplying company does not have any liquidity to enable them to participate in the tenders.

It's worth mentioning that the Federation of the Pharmaceutical Supplying Companies includes 20 companies, which provide 80% of the medicines required by the biddings of the Ministry of Health, which are mostly provided to the patients with Cancer, Heart, Kidney and Liver.

The other 20% of the required medicines is being provided by local pharmaceutical manufacturing companies and some other supplying companies that have not joined the Federation.

On his turn and through an interview with Ajyal Radio, Mr. Osama Al-Najjar, Spokesman of the Ministry of Health stated that the Ministry is currently looking for alternative sources of medicines, hence after the suppliers have stopped participating in the biddings, as a result of the accumulation of debts, which values more than NIS 300 million.