Al-Sudani urges action to boost local pharmaceutical production

BAGHDAD — Prime Minister Mohammed Shia Al-Sudani on Sunday chaired a meeting to evaluate progress on Iraq’s pharmaceutical industry localization program, calling for greater production capacity and faster implementation of projects.

In a statement, Al-Sudani’s office said the meeting focused on expanding national drug manufacturing, with particular attention to cancer treatment medications. The prime minister underscored the need for closer coordination between pharmaceutical companies and government agencies to overcome project delays and improve output.

He urged officials to “find practical solutions that enhance production capacity and ensure the effective implementation of contracts with the Ministry of Health.”

Statement from Al-Sudani’s media office:

Prime Minister Mohammed S. Al-Sudani chaired a meeting today, Sunday, dedicated to reviewing the progress of Iraq’s pharmaceutical industry localization program. The meeting was attended by the Minister of Health, relevant advisors, several private sector pharmaceutical producers, and a representative of the League of Medicine Producers.

The meeting included a review of the advancements in national pharmaceutical production, particularly the expansion of cancer treatment drug manufacturing. Discussions also covered the development of successful partnerships between the public and private sectors in this field, as well as the challenges facing several pharmaceutical projects and mechanisms to address them.

The Prime Minister was briefed on the latest development steps and discussed the preliminary standards adopted by the Ministry of Health, including initial and final drug registration processes and reliability criteria. The meeting also covered achieving the highest levels of quality and performance for locally manufactured medicines, in line with Iraqi and international standards.

Prime Minister Al-Sudani instructed local pharmaceutical companies to communicate regularly with relevant government agencies to find practical solutions that enhance production capacity and ensure the effective implementation of contracts with the Ministry of Health. He also emphasized the need to address obstacles through actionable measures and called for reviewing and aligning laws and regulations that support Iraq’s pharmaceutical industry.

The meeting further discussed accelerating production timelines, managing competition in the manufacture of identical drugs, promoting the national pharmaceutical industry, pricing policies, contract enforcement clauses, and supporting and protecting local pharmaceutical products. Additional topics included support and protection for local pharmaceutical products and insurance coverage for production at Iraqi factories was also addressed.