Cabinet approves drug price deregulation

The federal cabinet on the recommendation of the Ministry of National Health on Tuesday approved the proposals regarding deregulation of the prices of the medicines which were not included in the national list of essential medicines.

Under these proposals, prices of medicines other than essential medicines in the national list will be exempted from the Drugs Act, 1976 and necessary amendments will be made in the Drug Pricing Policy 2018.

Furthermore, the Pakistan Medical and Dental Council will ensure that doctors will not prescribe vitamins, multivitamins, minerals and over-the-counter products to the patients.

The Drug Regulatory Authority will compile a list of vitamins, multivitamins, minerals and over-the-counter products as per the prevailing international standards and will also be in touch with the provincial governments in this regard.

The cabinet also approved the decisions taken in the meeting of the Economic Coordination Committee held on February 01, 2024.

Read also: Cabinet members chastise drug regulator

Meanwhile the cabinet approved the appointment of Lt. General Tahir Hameed Shah as a member and chairman of the Pakistan Ordnance Factories Board on the recommendation of the Ministry of Defense Production.

The appointment of Lt. General Tahir Hameed Shah will be effective from November 29, 2023.

On the recommendation of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, the cabinet allowed Major Abid Mansoor Khan to receive award of “Note-e-Shujaat” and “Note-e-Sharf” from the Ministry of Defense of Saudi Arabia in recognition of his services.

The Federal Cabinet, on the recommendation of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, gave permission to Protocol Officer Mohammad Ashraf Khan to receive a gold medal from the Government of Austria in recognition of his services.

Read: Prices of 146 life-saving drugs hiked

Likewise the cabinet, on the recommendation of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs also gave permission to Air Commodore Syed Imran Ali to receive “Defense Cooperation Award First Class” award in recognition of his services as Defense Attaché at the Pakistani Embassy in Tokyo.

On the recommendation of the Ministry of Law and Justice and the proposal of the Chief Justice of Peshawar High Court, the cabinet approved the conversion of 4 out of 8 accountability courts in Peshawar into special courts.

Apart from this, the proposal of Chief Justice Peshawar High Court was also approved by the cabinet regarding the appointment of judges of these courts.

The remaining courts will continue to function as accountability courts. These changes will not incur any additional burden on the national exchequer.