Libya’s pharmaceutical spending faces corruption

Libya spent approximately LYD 11.8 billion on public sector medicines between 2022 and 2025 despite persistent shortages, expired stock and weak oversight, according to a joint Audit Bureau and National Anti-Corruption Commission report published by The Libya Observer on June 8th.

The review found shows fluctuations in pharmaceutical spending that did not clearly correspond to healthcare needs as expenditure rose to LYD 4.1 billion in 2023, an increase of 134 percent, before falling by 49 percent in 2025.

The report attributed these inconsistencies to the absence of a unified national procurement system and standard treatment protocols, medicine requirements were often estimated rather than calculated through reliable consumption data, producing surpluses of some products while essential drugs remained unavailable.

Procurement has also become increasingly fragmented, more than 25 separate bodies are now involved in purchasing medicines, creating duplicated orders, overlapping responsibilities and limited accountability over the use of public funds.

Although Libya’s national register includes 728 pharmaceutical importers and distributors a small number of agents reportedly control much of the supply network and hold exclusive representation rights for numerous international companies.

One company increased its approved foreign currency allocations from $2.2 million in 2022 to $43 million in 2025, growth of more than 1,300 percent, leading inspectors to raise suspicions of money laundering, tax evasion and inconsistencies between declared tax records and financial flows.

The most clear evidence of waste was found at Al-Razi Psychiatric and Neurological Hospital where inspectors documented around 626,124 expired pharmaceutical items, including more than 200,000 psychiatric tablets while Libya still lacks a national system for safely disposing of expired medicines.

This contrast explains why high public spending has not translated into reliable patient access, the problem is not simply insufficient funding, but a procurement structure that allows poor planning, monopolisation and weak distribution controls to absorb resources before medicines reach hospitals. Libya’s pharmaceutical crisis has therefore become a test of institutional reform.

Audit Bureau and National Anti-Corruption Commission, Libya observer and agencies, maghrebi.org