Prescription drugs (illustrative)
Prescription drugs (illustrative)Flash90

Prescription drug prices drop once again, the Price Committee announced on Monday night, this time by 5.37%.

The price drop is due, inter alia, to a change in the exchange rate of the euro against the shekel in the past six months.

All prescriptions above 16 shekels ($4.13) will be affected by the price cut beginning on June 15, giving time to drug companies and pharmacies to update prices nationwide. 

Deputy Health Minister Yaakov Litzman (United Torah Judaism) welcomed the reduction and said that this was part of a social policy to protect the public, and especially the chronically ill, from paying too much for prescription medication.

"There is still room for a further lowering of drug prices and we are working for this," Litzman said. 

Prescription drug prices have dropped dramatically in Israel over the past several years. 

In December 2013, the prices of all prescription drugs in Israel dropped by 5.6% - continuing a trend of a 33% drop in prescription prices since 2008.