People walk past a board showing the exchange rates outside an exchange office in Istanbul, Turkey on November 11, 2021. REUTERS Dilara Senkaya File Photo
ISTANBUL, Nov 26, Reuters -- Some Turks are struggling to buy medicines as the industry warns that stocks are shrinking after an unsustainable crash in the lira has pushed up import prices and disrupted supplies.
Industry leaders and pharmacies said that the 48 billion lira $4 billion sector was facing steep losses on some products, and warned of disruptions in the coming months for medicines for children, common colds, diabetes and high blood pressure.
The Turkish currency has lost 25% since the beginning of last week due to the reckless interest rate cuts that have caused shortages of imported products, according to analysts. Nezih Barut, chairman of the Pharmaceutical Manufacturers Association of Turkey, told Reuters that stocks of some drugs were down to a week, compared to a month usually. He said that pharmaceutical companies are having to curb some suddenly expensive imports due to the currency drop.
Some pharmaceuticals are not on the market. This is caused by forex rates and the difficulties we face in accessing raw materials at a global level, according to Barut.
The concerns were acute for one mother.
The nurse in Istanbul seeking medicine for her 16-year-old son with cerebral palsy and epilepsy said she looked everywhere and could not find more, and pharmacies don't tell me when they will have it next.
She said she wanted anonymity, so I have to speak with our doctor and change the drug if I can't find it. We were told it was because of the exchange rate adjustment. The Turkish Pharmacists Association said earlier this month that access to 645 medicines was already hampered due to the latest lira slide, exacerbated an existing problem for an industry that imported 24 billion lira $2 billion worth of medications last year.
The lira has fallen by 38% against the dollar and 32% against the euro so far this year. The central bank cut rates by another 100 basis points to 15% this month, well below inflation at 20%, under pressure from President Tayyip Erdogan.
The currency was firmer on Thursday after hitting a new low of 13.45 to the dollar on Tuesday. The heavy depreciation only stokes Turkey's inflation via imports, including drugs.
Barut said that the government would ask for a minimum 35% price increase for next year because of the exchange rate, because of the fact that manufacturing or importing pharmaceuticals is unsustainable at current forex rates.
Pharmacists predicted supply problems until February, when the next annual reference price for drugs is set.
Ayse Sibel Birinci, a pharmacist in Ankara, said there would be shortages of many drugs, especially children's drugs, hormone drugs, blood pressure medications, diabetes drugs, insulin.
Ahmet Metin Kablama, another pharmacist, said children's painkillers, fever suppressants, nasal sprays and cough syrups were particularly scarce due to the fall of the lira.
Since there is a flu epidemic as well as COVID at the moment, patients have difficulty accessing this type of medicine, he said.
The sector's difficulties have been driven by a reference pricing system in place since 2004, according to officials.
5 EU countries are taken as references and the lowest price is the reference price for the medicines in Turkey. 60% of the reference price is applied for drugs with generic competition, based on a euro exchange rate that is fixed for one year.
The rate is too low, according to companies. It was set at about 4.6 to the euro for this year, while the euro was worth 13.4 lira on Thursday.
That means delays for some people.
I needed to buy a vitamin but I couldn't get it after waiting a couple of days, said Elif Kucuk, 43, in the city of Erzurum. The pharmacist said there wasn't any in stock.