PPMA blames medicines’ unavailability on ‘unfair pricing mechanism’

Says producing these drugs no longer a ‘lucrative option’

KARACHI: The Pakistan Pharmaceutical Manufacturers’ Association (PPMA) has said that a number of medicines, including essential drugs, are unavailable in the market, blaming the shortage on an “utterly unfair pricing mechanism against which no remedy is available to the pharma industry”.

“The situation has become grave as some 70 to 80 medicines are not available in the market as their indigenous manufacturing is not viable for the local pharma industry,” stated a PPMA press release.

“The pharma sector is the only one that has to pay general sales tax on certain inputs of its raw material and cannot charge the same sales tax from its consumers.

“This coupled with a completely irrational pricing policy and mechanism has led to a situation where manufacturing of a number of medicines on cheaper cost, including those required for common and life threatening diseases, was no more a lucrative option for the local industry,” the statement added.

The medicines no longer available in the market are prescribed for treating epilepsy, thyroid disease, some neurological disorders and similar other common and fatal health ailments.

The association said that the price controlling powers of Drug Regulatory Authority of Pakistan (DRAP) should be confined only to the Model List of Essential Medicines’ of World Health Organization.“Due to these reasons, the drug companies, as a last resort, have moved to the Supreme Court to save the medicines’ industry.”

The PPMA said that the court’s intervention had been sought for ensuring adjustment in prices of certain essential medicines whose manufacturing in the country had no more been a viable option.

It said under the new drug policy, the DRAP was obliged to process and decide cases of “Hardship medicines” applying for price increase within 90 days.  After expiry of this period, the applicant companies would themselves become eligible to increase prices of their non-viable medicines under the agreed pricing mechanism and formula.

Published in The Express Tribune, September 17^th, 2016.

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