Pharmaceutical Pricing Policies and Procedures in Saudi Arabia: A Narrative Review

Abstract

From inception, the health care system in Saudi Arabia has ensured the availability of health care facilities to its people. This article discusses the pharmaceutical pricing policies and the impact of health drug prices on the public in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia. A review of government and Saudi Food and Drug Authority (SFDA) policy documents, guidelines, and articles published in PubMed and other indexed journals (N = 10) was performed to identify the relevant literature. Results showed that the government appears poised and focused on the availability of better health care facilities to the Saudi population. The pharmaceutical market in Saudi Arabia commands a large portion of the pharmaceuticals market share in the entire Middle East region. The government, through the SFDA, sets the prices of pharmaceutical products. There are occasional price variations, which are induced by a number of factors. However, because the Saudis enjoy free health care coupled with the recent introduction of a compulsory health insurance policy, the impact of price variation is not felt. In addition, the Saudis prefer using branded medicines. The SFDA plays a major role in price regulation by setting up rules for pharmaceutical product pricing. However, there appears to be little or no impact of pharmaceutical price variation in Saudi Arabia because of better earning power among the population and free health care access to public health facilities.