A recent study from the national court of audits sparked a wide-spread national debate, after revealing that Moroccan pharmacists have a 57% profit margin off of the medication sold.
A Moroccan pharmacist spoke to Hespress EN to clear “confusion,” under the condition of anonymity.
“According to Moroccan law, we are not permitted to exceed 33.93% profit in medication that cost less than MAD 280.6, keeping in mind that around 90% of medicine sold in Morocco cost less than this price. We pay taxes, personnel, and other expenses out of the percentage we make,” explained the pharmacist.
“As for medication prices ranging between MAD 280 and MAD 900, a pharmacist has right to a 29% profit margin,” added our source, meaning it constitutes a profit less than the cheaper pharmaceutical drugs available in the country.
The same pharmacist highlited that in Morocco, people get more than just medications, as pharmacies offer several services, like consultations, checking blood pressure, filling up health insurance documents, and more. In many of the countries that Morocco is now being compared to, these services are not free.
A second pharmacist who also spoke to Hespress EN says that when it comes to dietary supplements and vitamins, pharmacist have 20% of VAT (value-added tax), which the professionals with a 10% profit margin.
This pharmacist also affirms that the numbers do not exactly convey the profit situation due to the lack of explanation on how the profit is split between tax and other costs, which now propagated this “false” image that Moroccan pharmacists are greedy, profiting more in Morocco than in other countries.
He also noted how difficult it is to profit from selling products such as cosmetics, because they are cheaper in drugstores, where consumers are increasingly shopping for non-medical items.
“Things are constantly changing, the profit margin on expensive medications is decreasing as it is predetermined by law, no matter what a medicine costs, the profit doesn’t increase with it,” said the pharmacist.
According to Decree n°2-13-852 of December 18, 2013, the manufacturer’s price excluding tax (PFHT) for an originator drug, whether locally manufactured or imported, that is newly introduced on the market is the lowest of the PFHT of the same drug converted into dirhams, fixed or approved by the competent authorities in the following countries: Saudi Arabia, Belgium, Spain, France, Turkey, Portugal, and the country of origin when it differs from these.
The same legal excerpt specifies that for imported medications, the PFHT is retained and enhanced by 10% to cover the import margin, approach charges, and customs duties.
The profit margins returned to the wholesaler-distributor pharmaceutical establishment and the dispensing pharmacist for locally manufactured medications are defined by PFHT sections (depending on the price of the medication), which are quoted above.
When an official from the national council of social protection, Hamza Guedira, was asked about this same medicine, he stated that Morocco, just like other countries, is under pressure when it comes to certain medications, as read on Moroccan news outlet Le Matin.
He stated that Levothyrox isn’t fully unavailable in the market, and that Morocco has been facing shortages of it for some time now. This is a vital medicine for people with thyroid imbalances, said the pharmacist alarmingly.
“People are aware that we sell medicine with already existing price tags, and the same prices are available online in case people want to double-check. Where is the 57% profit that the report suggests?” emphasized the same source.
The data of the recent report of the National Court of Audit relating to the profit margins of pharmacists in Morocco caused a lively controversy. While the Court of Auditors has indicated that their earnings can go up to 57% profits from selling pharmaceutical medicine, pharmacists have strongly contested the data.
In the report, the Audits Court indicated that profit margins of pharmacists vary between 47% and 57% for drugs whose price is less than or equivalent to MAD 588, excluding taxes.
The report also indicated that these margins vary between MAD 300 and MAD 400 per box, for drugs whose manufacturing price exceeds MAD 558.
The same institution made the observation that these profit margins are not greater than 25% in Turkey, less than 5.58% in Portugal, 21.4% in France, and 6.42% in Belgium. This sparked controversy and put Moroccan pharmacists under scrutiny from the public.
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