When Umm Mohammed, a pharmacist in Iraq, was told that her prescription for a skin condition cost about $611, she turned to less expensive natural remedies, as did some of her relatives.
The 34-year-old mother of two found the remedy eight times cheaper at the herbal shop. “Today's pharmacy is a disaster, poor people turn to herbal medicine because of the price. Who can pay for it? Do you have to die? That's why you turned to herbal medicine."
Shop owner and professor of pharmacology Ibrahim al-Jabouri told Reuters he saw customers suffering from a variety of health problems, including skin conditions, intestinal problems, colon infections or hair loss.
While some Iraqis confidently choose alternative medicine, others have no choice because they cannot afford conventional medicine.
Dr. Haider Sabah, director of the National Center for Herbal Medicines, which is Iraq's regulatory agency, said: "The economic situation the country is experiencing means that the price of medicines is difficult, especially for those on a limited income." Ministry of Public Health.
Iraq's healthcare system, once one of the best in the Middle East, has collapsed due to conflict, international sanctions, the 2003 US invasion of Iraq and widespread corruption.
Although public health services are free, the lack of adequate medicines, equipment and services often forces citizens to turn to the more expensive private sector.
In recent years, Sabah has seen the opening of more manufacturing hubs in the capital, Baghdad. According to its database, there are 460 businesses licensed to sell herbal medicines, up from 350 in 2020.
Standards vary widely, from shops selling beautifully packaged licensed products in the best neighborhoods of Baghdad to traditional herbalists mixing plants from jars in front of customers.
"I inherited this business," said Mohammad Sobhi, who followed in his brother's footsteps and has been selling drugs since the 1980s.
"Those who can't get their medicine don't go to the doctor," he said.
Dr Ali Nasser said that substituting prescription drugs for herbal products could be dangerous and detrimental to patients if not used properly.
He cites the case of a patient who switched his prescription to herbal medicine and "got to the point where our doctors called it diabetic ketoacidosis and they had to go to the intensive care unit."
The root of the problem, he added, was Iraq's inability to create an adequate medical system or regulatory framework for the country's many healthcare providers.
According to "Sabah", since 2019, inspection group supervisory companies selling herbal medicines have suspended their activities due to serious legal violations. "Most of the violations discovered by the inspection group were eliminated."