Consumers appeal to govt to control surging medicine prices lest deaths rise

• Consumers have appealed to PTI government to control inflation rate lest the inability to afford leads to deaths.
• People worried as basic medicines, including life-saving drugs, have became at least 15% more expensive after coronavirus lockdown.
• According to the PCDA, DRAP and PTI govt have already given approval for an increase in drug prices in line with the consumer price index.

KARACHI: Consumers in Pakistan have appealed to the PTI government to control the surging prices of medicine lest the number of deaths start rising as drugs, including the life-saving ones, become at least 15% costlier.

The prices of basic medicines, including life-saving drugs, shot up by almost a fifth after the coronavirus lockdown, which has left people scared for lives due to affordability issues.

The News decided to visit Karachi's wholesale medicine market, which is the largest one in Pakistan, to see how shopkeepers and buyers are dealing with the rising drug prices.

Every pharmaceutical company has bumped up the prices of its medicines by at least 15% after the coronavirus lockdown, vendors at the wholesale market told The News. Consumers, they added, are worried due to the price surge since they are forced to buy basic medicines, including life-saving drugs, or face deterioration in health.

Therefore, consumers have appealed to the PTI regime to control the inflation lest the inability to afford medicines leads to deaths.

Separately, the Pakistan Chemists & Druggists Association (PCDA) says the Drug Regulatory Authority of Pakistan (DRAP) and the PTI regime have already given approval to pharmaceutical companies to increase drug prices in line with the consumer price index.