Pharmaceutical companies ditch drug price-hike plan till Sept 30

Health ministry says respite given due to govt efforts

ISLAMABAD:

The health ministry has announced that the pharmaceutical companies have decided not to increase medicine prices in the first quarter of this financial year in support of the government's initiative to provide relief to the people due to the Covid-19 pandemic.

“The government in June negotiated with pharmaceuticals and they didn’t exercise their right to increase prices delaying it for three months providing relief during Covid,” tweeted Dr Arsalan Khalid, the focal person to the PM on digital media on Saturday.

He stated that according to the “drugs policy of April 2018, pharmaceutical companies could have increased drugs prices in July”.

According to the Ministry of National Health Services spokesperson, the pharmaceutical companies under Drug Pricing Policy 2018 can increase prices of essential drugs by 7% and non-essential drugs by 10% in accordance with annual Consumer Price Index (CPI).

He said that the government proactively took measures by keeping the prices static by interacting with the pharma industry to alleviate suffering of people during this pandemic.

Accordingly, “all medicines will remain available at old prices in the first quarter of this financial year”.

“The government appreciates and commends the decision of the pharmaceutical companies and to stand with the government to provide relief to the people of Pakistan in this difficult time,” he added.

In July, the PTI-led federal government amended the Drug Pricing Policy 2018, allowing pharmaceutical companies to increase prices of medicines up to 10%.

The Drug Regulatory Authority of Pakistan (Drap) issued a notification which said the regulator has allowed pharmaceutical companies to increase prices of lifesaving drugs by up to 7% and other drugs by up to 10% on the recommendation and approval of the government and its policy board.

According to the notifications, the pharmaceutical companies and drug importers are bound to submit all the evidence of an increase in the maximum retail price of a medicine along with the signatures of the company’s chief executive officer to Drap.

Drap will not accept revised prices of a pharmaceutical company or importer, if they fail to submit this evidence. Drap will approve the new prices within 30 days after verifying the documents. However, the new prices will be thought to be effective if Drap fails to approve the prices in 30 days.