Speaking in the National Assembly on Tuesday, Parliamentary Secretary for Health Dr Mehreen Razaque Bhutto said action had been taken against such companies on the recommendation of the price monitoring committee working at the federal level.
She stressed that the government had not increased medicine prices since 2010, though it did so in 2008 in order to protect the weak pharmaceutical units.
Under the Drugs Act, the price monitoring committee was constituted with representation from the Ministry of Health, Pakistan Medical Association and pharmaceutical companies, to regularly review prices. The committee was responsible for examining requests about price hikes, put forward by pharmaceutical companies.
“The committee takes decisions in a fair and transparent manner, purely based on merit. There is a proper mechanism for registration of drugs in the country under the 1976 Drugs Act,” said Bhutto.
She added that the ministry had appointed drug inspectors and established drug laboratories to monitor the sale and prices of registered medicines.
She dispelled the impression that medicines being sold in local markets were costlier than those in the neighbouring country. She, however, admitted there was a slight difference in prices of medicines produced by multinational companies.
Bhutto assured that quality medicines were being manufactured in the country and were also being exported, and added that the government was making efforts to stop any illegal businesses in the industry. She said that the government was also providing free medicines to deserving patients in hospitals.
Published in The Express Tribune, March 2nd, 2011.
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