A report issued by the Supreme Committee for Strategic Cooperation between the Audit Bureau and the National Anti-Corruption Commission on the review of pharmaceutical sector support between 2022 and 2025 revealed major structural deficiencies in Libya’s medicine management system, including sharp financial fluctuations, market monopolization, corruption concerns, and serious shortcomings in planning and distribution.
According to the report, total spending on pharmaceutical procurement for the public sector reached approximately LYD 11.8 billion. Expenditures showed unexplained volatility, rising to LYD 4.1 billion in 2023, an increase of 134%, before dropping sharply by 49% in 2025, indicating a clear disconnect between spending levels and actual healthcare needs.
The report highlighted the absence of a unified national framework for medicine procurement and a standardized treatment protocol, resulting in inconsistent drug lists and reliance on estimated requirements rather than actual consumption data. This led to significant surpluses of some medicines and severe shortages of others.
It also revealed that the procurement system had shifted from a centralized model to one involving more than 25 procurement entities, creating duplication in purchasing, overlapping responsibilities, and weak oversight. Foreign currency requests during the review period amounted to hundreds of millions of dollars and euros.
On governance issues, the report identified indicators of conflicts of interest and unusually rapid revenue growth among certain pharmaceutical companies. One company reportedly increased its approved allocations from $2.2 million in 2022 to $43 million in 2025, representing growth of more than 1,300%. The report also noted that a limited number of companies dominate the pharmaceutical market and distribution network.
The report stated that the national registry includes 728 pharmaceutical companies, including importers and distributors, but actual distribution is concentrated in the hands of a small number of agents. Some firms control dozens of exclusive agencies, including ALFA, which holds exclusive representation rights for numerous international pharmaceutical companies.
Inspectors also documented approximately 626,124 expired pharmaceutical items stored at Al-Razi Psychiatric and Neurological Hospital, including more than 200,000 expired psychiatric tablets, posing both health and environmental risks.
The report further revealed the absence of a national mechanism for disposing of expired medicines and weaknesses in storage and tracking systems, contributing to the accumulation of pharmaceutical waste and increasing associated risks.
In addition, it cited suspicions of money laundering and tax evasion, discrepancies between tax records and financial flows, and cases where private companies covered the costs of inspection visits, raising concerns about the independence of oversight bodies.
