Egyptian lawmaker warns against prioritising local insulin production over patient needs

Egyptian MP Irene Said emphasises the importance of maintaining quality and patient access amid plans to expand domestic pharmaceutical manufacturing, highlighting concerns over treatment suitability and supply reliability.

Egyptian lawmaker Irene Said has urged caution over plans to expand local pharmaceutical production, saying the state’s drive to manufacture more medicine at home should not come at the expense of patients who depend on imported insulin or other treatments. Said, a member of parliament’s health committee, said medicine is not a luxury item but a basic necessity tied directly to people’s health and lives.

Said argued that responses to treatment can vary sharply from one patient to another, particularly among people with diabetes, where one brand of insulin may work well while another does not deliver the same result. She said the same can apply to thyroid medicines and warned that forcing patients to switch to a domestic product does not always serve their best interests. She added that a patient’s psychological state can affect how well treatment works, making medical choice especially sensitive.

Her comments come amid wider concern about insulin access in Egypt and elsewhere. The World Health Organisation has said global supply problems are driven by high prices, limited availability of human insulin and the dominance of a small number of manufacturers, while the Access to Medicine Foundation has found that only 27% of 108 low-income countries had registered all essential insulin types. Researchers at Boston University have likewise said insulin imports are often not enough to meet demand in parts of Africa and Asia, backing calls for stronger local production and more resilient supply chains.

Said said public insurance systems have previously allowed patients to obtain imported medicine by paying the price difference themselves, with the state covering a standard amount. She said local manufacturing should remain a priority because it helps strengthen drug security and reduce import bills, but insisted that the best way to build trust in Egyptian medicines is through quality, effectiveness and reliable availability rather than by removing alternatives.