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Why medicines are so expansive in Kuwait?

Last activity 29 March 2012 by Sweetmischief

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philmond

Many expats in Kuwait complain about the sky high prices of medicine in Kuwait. The majority of prescription drugs are more than double or triple the price of that in neighboring countries like Saudi Arabia, UAE, Jordan...
In saudi Arabia for example Expat get the same free medicine as citizen with no discrimination. In Kuwait on the other hand, Discrimination in providing medicine is a reality, many drugs are provided free of charge for Kuwaiti only,while expats have to buy them from the pharmacies for a very high price. to give you an example the price of Proscar (A medicine to treat BPH) in Kuwait is more than 18 KD compared to less than 10 KD in Saudi Arabia, Jordan, and even Lebanon.
Many expats are buying medicines from other countries and used to get them through parcel post free of taxes, just the delivery charges, but now Kuwait is taxing everything comes to Kuwait through FedEx, Aramex... and sometimes confiscating medicine if in large quantity.
My advice to all expats living in Kuwait: bring your medicine from abroad with you when come to Kuwait, have enough medicine to last until your next travel, otherwise you will be paying double and triple the price.

legacy

hello and welcome to EB Phil.

you raise a good query. however, u missed a big point. any drugs you come with thru the airport will also be checked, and it is at the discretion of the checker whether or not to allow u thru. especially if u are getting them in quantities, they will assume u are selling. its happened to me a few times.

to counteract sky high prices, use insurance. that is what its there for. if i feel the onset of a flu coming on, i head to my hospital, visit the doctor (or the ER for convenience) and get prescribed everything i need. if ur insurance does not cover, visit the clinics, i think its 1KD or 2KD and u get medicines as well. Pharmacies should not be visited in Kuwait. overpriced, as u said.

ALTHOUGH, that is the price asp the Ministry of Health. :/

philmond

Thanks Legacy for the reply. You are right about airport search but I manage to distribute the medicines in the 2 suitcases, briefcase, laptop bag, Jacket...
As for insurance, I work for the government and their policy is to receive medical treatment in public hospitals where all the expensive medicines are provided for Kuwaiti only. This the price we have to pay in Kuwait, but thank God salaries are good enough to alleviate this problem.

btw I like your name Legacy

legacy

thank you Phil :)

did u try clinics? not the private ones, the public ones.. like for example, in hawalli there are 2; theres one on tunis st near Muhallab (intersection of Tunis and Beirut St) and the deal there is u take ur insurance card and pay 1 or 2KD and get meds.

give it a shot :)

Sweetmischief

Thanks for the good tips/advice guys, I'll be leaving Philippines next month for work in Kuwait, this question is on my mind too, so now I know what to do. Thanks! :)

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