Implement generic policy to help reduce medicine price: activists

Ministry brushes aside allegations as ‘pressure tactic’ to register substandard drugs

ISLAMABAD: A group of young pharmacists and lawyers have called on the apex drug regulator Authority of Pakistan to implement the generic policy to help reduce the price of medicines in the country.

The Pakistan Young Pharmacist Association (PYPA), the Pakistan Drug Lawyers Forum (PDLF) and the Insaf Doctors Forum (IDF), in a joint news conference on Thursday said that by implementing the generic policy outlined in the Drug Act 1976 would see medicine prices in the country fall by as much as five times.

PDLF president Dr Noor Mahar said that the Drug Regulatory Authority of Pakistan (DRAP) had a mandate to provide quality medicines to all Pakistanis at economical prices.

“Single-ingredient drugs shall be registered generally by their generic names while compound drugs shall be registered generally by their proprietary names,” he said while quoting the Drug Act.

Dr Mahar alleged that Drap had issued registration letters for medicines which carried brand names rather than generics, which was a violation of the Drug Act and helped inflate costs of medicines.

“If Drap issues registration letters of all 81,000 single ingredient drugs by their generic names, then prices of these medicines would fall by five times,” he maintained.

He disclosed that they had filed a written petition with the Lahore High Court, urging it to revoke all registration letters issued by brand names and issue registration letters with generic names.

IDF General Secretary Dr Saeed Mustafa alleged that the Shifa International Hospital in Islamabad was selling medicines to in-door patients at prices 10-25 per cent higher than the maximum retail prices fixed by the government right under Drap’s nose. He further alleged that Drap had appointed the son of SIH General Manager Afzal Ahmed as a Federal Drug Inspector by violating all laws, rules and regulations.

“Hassan Afzal cannot be appointed to any position in Drap under section 18 of the Drap Act 2012, as his father is directly involved in the business of therapeutic goods,” Dr Mustafa contended.

Meanwhile, the health ministry denied all charges levelled by the activists, claiming that they were working on the agenda of Everest Pharma which was involved in the illegal manufacture of unregistered and banned sex drug and that they lack a basic understanding of drug-related regulations. “These elements are deliberately spreading rumours and misleading the public over prices of drugs for their vested interests,” a Drap spokesperson said.

The official added that companies who had failed to clear the quality criteria for their products and whose products had not been approved by the registration board were misleading the media through pressure tactics and with false claims of exorbitant prices of medicines.

“Drap and the Ministry of Health will not accept any pressure and there will be no compromise on the quality of drugs as it is a matter of patients’ lives.”

Published in The Express Tribune, September 29^th, 2017.