<span>Healthcare regulators in Abu Dhabi are making it easier for patients and doctors to choose to use generic medicine</span><span>.</span> <span>The Department of Health has introduced a mechanism to commission the dispensing of generic medicine with the same efficacy and safety for patients as that of more expensive, branded medicine.</span> <span>From September 1, generic drugs will be covered by health insurance to increase access to medicine and medical innovation.</span> <span>Patients will be offered the choice of branded or generic medicine by paying the price difference between the reference price and that of selected generic or branded medicine.</span> <span>The department has developed reference reimbursement medicine pricing, where drugs judged to be similar are clustered together under a single level of reimbursement.</span> __________________ <strong>Read more:</strong> __________________ <span>Excluded from the official list are single-source drugs as well as narrow-therapeutic-window medicine that may require drug monitoring.</span> <span>Generic drugs can cost a fifth of branded medicine, according to the Food and Drug Administration in the United States.</span> <span>Doctors there prescribe about 90 per cent generic drugs, with the UK, Germany and France prescribing about 80 per cent</span><span>.</span> <span>Health insurance professionals have previously called on regulators to encourage doctors to prescribe more generic drugs.</span> <span>They say healthcare providers </span><span>could save Dh2.3 billion by prescribing drugs that are just as effective as branded pharmaceuticals. </span> <span>The money </span><span>saved could be better spent increasing healthcare benefits elsewhere, they argue.</span>