Minister of Health and Population Ahmed Emad on Wednesday said that prices of only 15 percent of the locally-produced drugs and 20 percent of imported drugs will increase.

In a released statement, he explained that prices of 3,000 medicines out of 12,000 will only increase, while only 10 percent of chronic diseases medicines will also increase.

Pharmaceutical companies have proposed increasing the prices of all kinds of medicines after liberalizing the exchange rate of the US dollar, said the minister, noting that this proposal was completely rejected.

The companies, he added, proposed increasing 50 percent of medicines on the market, but the ministry held that this state of affairs will constitute a big burden on the citizens, according to the statement.

He noted that the issue has been followed up by specialized committees and the political leadership in Egypt as the interests of the patient is of high priority to the government.