No action taken to rein in drug prices

Cost of 350 medicines has skyrocketed

LAHORE:

The government is yet to take any effective measures to reverse an unprecedented increase in the prices of medicines that has left them out of the reach of a large number of people amid rising inflation and unemployment in the country.

Prices of more than 350 drugs, especially life-saving medicines, have risen up to five-fold in recent years. In particular, an injection which has yet to be confirmed as being effective in curing coronavirus is being sold for up to Rs500,000.

The provincial government, health ministry and other authorities concerned appear to have no interest in ensuring availability of medicines to all citizens. Action in this regard by the officials concerned has not been witnessed in recent weeks. Pharmaceutical companies attributed the increase in the drug prices to a rise in the prices of their imported ingredients n the international market.

Noor Meher, President of the Pakistan Drug Lawyers Forum, said there is no government agency in the country that monitors and controls the prices of medicines. The entire financial burden of the lack of control is borne by the patients and their families, of whom an estimated 70% are unable to buy medicines on time because of the rising cost.

Citizens complain that profiteers have also taken advantage of the spread of coronavirus. Provincial Health Minister Dr Yasmin Rashid said in a statement earlier that Actemra injection could not be sold privately without a prescription. It had not been conclusively determined whether the injection was 100% effective against coronavirus.

In the experience of doctors of some government hospitals, the injection helped in curing infected patients, on the basis of which its officials price was fixed at Rs35,000 to control black marketing. However, the injection was sold for hundreds of thousands of rupees.

The hundreds of medicines whose prices have skyrocketed are commonly used by patients of diabetes and heart, kidney, ENT, liver and chest diseases, diabetes. According to doctors and patients, none of these drugs are available in government hospitals free of charge. The patients are asked to buy the prescribed medicines from the markets.

According to sources in government hospitals, over 90 per cent of the patients called for follow up after prescribing the costly medicines do not return for a check-up. There are currently 95,000 drug brands available across the country with 600 companies manufacturing medicines. About 2,200 pharmaceutical salts are registered.

According to a report, it is estimated that about two dozen people die every day in the country due to not being administered medicines.

Earlier, the Drug Regulatory Authority of Pakistan (DRAP) in October increased the prices of 94 medicines including those used for fever, headache, heart disease, malaria, diabetes, sore throat and flu.

A notification has also been issued by the regulatory body in this regard.

In September, the federal government decided to allow pharmaceutical companies to increase prices of 94 lifesaving drugs in order to end the chronic shortage of these medicines in the market.

The medicines whose prices have been increased also include antibiotics, abdominal pain, medicines for eye, ear, tooth, mouth and blood infection, skin diseases and post-childbirth drugs. “To address long-term shortage of some key or lifesaving medicines, the federal cabinet has allowed rationalising prices of drugs that had been reported to be in short supply due to unrealistically low prices,” Special Assistant to Prime Minister on National Health Services Dr Faisal Sultan said.

Of these, 68 medicines are local and 26 are imported. The price hike was reportedly unavoidable because of the aforementioned reasons. But, it is said that pharmaceutical companies will not be allowed to raise prices any further until June 2021.

Published in The Express Tribune, January 1^st, 2021.