Cabinet seeks checks on vaccine monopoly
Some members of the federal cabinet have raised serious questions over the pricing of locally manufactured vaccines and monopolistic practices of pharmaceutical companies.
The government has also agreed to give a buyback guarantee for the locally manufactured vaccines.
During a meeting chaired by Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif on Saturday, the cabinet gave in-principle approval to the National Policy for Advancing Indigenous Vaccine Production.
It, however, also formed a Committee on National Policy for Advancing Indigenous Vaccine Production to make recommendations for determining the prices of locally manufactured vaccines.
The committee will examine the factors determining the costs of production of local vaccines and the pricing issues that could arise following the commencement of local production of vaccines under the new policy.
The committee will also study international best practices adopted globally for pricing vaccines that could prevent excessive profiteering by the proposed National Vaccine Alliance.
The National Vaccine Alliancecomposed of pharmaceutical firmswill be entrusted with the responsibility of indigenous vaccine production once the draft policy is implemented.
The committee will propose a fair pricing model for locally produced vaccines and suggest standards and safeguards to ensure that vaccines produced by the proposed alliance meet the highest international standards and are available at fair prices.
It will also propose an institutional arrangement to ensure that provinces are fully integrated in the policy framework.
During the discussion, the cabinet members observed that it was essential to ascertain the costing and pricing model that the National Vaccine Alliance would follow.
The cabinet members further asserted that the government buyback guarantee made it all the more important to ascertain the details of the costing and pricing model the alliance would adopt.
It said since the alliance would essentially function as a monopoly, it was imperative to ensure that it did not charge exorbitant prices to the detriment of vaccine users.
The cabinet members also emphasised the need for capacity building of the Drug Regulatory Authority of Pakistan (DRAP), so that it could effectively monitor vaccine pricing and ensure that vaccines produced in Pakistan complied with international standards set by the WHO.
Responding to the cabinet members' observations, Minister for National Health Services Mustafa Kamal said owing to high production costs, particularly research and development outlays, pharma companies were reluctant to produce vaccines unless given suitable incentives.
He said that to incentivize vaccine production, the global economic model is to form alliances of several pharmaceutical companies so they can attain economies of scale and ensure profitability.
The minister apprised the cabinet that under the draft National Policy for Advancing Indigenous Vaccine Production, the alliance's vaccine pricing would be subject to regulation by DRAP.
DRAP will ensure that vaccines are available to the public at reasonable prices.