We knew the King would do it — pharmacists

AMMAN — The Jordanian Pharmacists Association (JPhA) on Wednesday praised His Majesty King Abdullah’s decision to halt the increase in the general tax on  medicines, thanking the King for “standing up for this cause to protect the unprivileged citizens”.

The remarks came during a press conference held by the union, where the board members expressed their regards “to all pharmacists across Jordan for helping us [the JPhA] to keep on the fight, raising their voices for all the suffering Jordanian patients we see every single day in our communities”. 

“From the very first moment we started talking about the subject, we knew that the issue would reach the King at some point and he would take action,” President of the JPhA Zeid Kilani told The Jordan Times, noting that “His Majesty has asked the ministers before not to harm the low-income citizens with any of their decisions”.

“Raising the taxes on medicines affects all sectors of the population and harms the less privileged, and thus we praise the King’s move to protect the Jordanian people,” he added. 

Prime Minister Hani Mulki on Wednesday announced the King’s decision to halt the new tax raise, noting that the government would take all administrative and legal measures to  implement the Royal directive. 

The decision comes as a commitment by the King “not to burden the sick and their families with additional financial burdens and to take into consideration the middle- and low-income classes”, which was applied by the government through the social safety net included in the budget law.