Egypt's pharmaceutical market reached a value of EGP309 billion in 2024, with total sales of 3.5 billion packages and over 12,000 drug products, stated the Egyptian Drug Authority (EDA) Chairman Ali El Ghamrawy, as per a Cabinet statement on Sunday. Speaking at the third medical conference on the optimal use of antibiotics and infection control, El Ghamrawy noted that antibiotics accounted for 407 million packages across 887 products, approximately 11.6 per cent of total pharmaceutical sales last year, with nearly 55 per cent sold without a prescription. El Ghamrawy explained that the high level of antibiotic consumption places significant responsibility on the EDA to promote rational use, stressing that the authority is closely monitoring national usage as part of the World Health Organisation's surveillance programme and is reporting data to the global platform using the defined daily dose system. This system allows for comparison of Egypt's antibiotic consumption with international levels, he said, noting that recent efforts have led to a 38.4 per cent reduction in sales of reserved injectable antibiotics by the end of March 2025. The EDA head underscored the importance of both international and local cooperation to combat antimicrobial resistance and highlighted the authority's commitment to awareness campaigns promoting responsible antibiotic use. Attribution: Amwal Al Ghad English Subediting: M. S. Salama
