Massive increase in medicine prices feared after govt decides to deregulate drug prices

ISLAMABAD: Prices of thousands of medicines except those in the ‘National Essential Medicines List’ (NEML)’ are likely to increase manifolds in the days ahead following a decision by the caretaker government to deregulate the prices of drugs in the country, experts and rights groups feared on Sunday.

“The notification regarding ‘drug-price deregulation’ is expected to be issued next week by the Ministry of National Health Services, Regulations and Coordination (NHS,R&C) following a policy decision taken by the caretaker federal cabinet earlier this month,” an official of the NHS confirmed to ‘The News’.

The caretaker government is facing severe criticism for the ‘irrational decisions’ regarding medicines after it approved the proposals regarding the deregulation of the prices of the medicines which were not included in the National Essential Medicines List (NEML).

“The caretaker government, while on the way out, took two irrational decisions regarding the pharmaceutical sector. First, it prohibited doctors and surgeons from prescribing vitamins, minerals and food supplements and secondly, it decided to deregulate the prices of medicines, which will cause an inflationary storm in Pakistan,” said Ayaz Kiani, a senior pharmacist and rights activist while commenting on the government’s decision.

Kiani, who is helping the authorities in preparing the country’s National Medicine Policy, said although medicine prices deregulation has some benefits but in a country like Pakistan, it will result in a massive increase in the prices of medicines as well as over-prescription of drugs due to prevailing pharma-physician nexus.

“In 1993, the then federal government deregulated the prices of medicines which proved to be a disastrous decision because it resulted in massive increase in prices of medicines and made them unaffordable for most of the people. In those days, pharmaceutical companies were increasing prices of medicines on a weekly or even on daily basis without any oversight,” he claimed.

According to him, major beneficiaries of price de-regulation of 1993 were the 150 odd local manufacturing companies of pharmaceutical products, which made hundreds of millions rupees in a short span of time. He said that the deregulation of medicines’ prices will result in a massive increase in their prices and over-burdening millions of people living below the poverty in Pakistan.

Urging the caretaker government to leave such an important policy decision to the next elected government, Ayaz Kiani said the authorities should take steps to ensure availability of the all the required medicines, saying even the pharmaceutical industry had not demanded the luxury of price deregulation, which was granted to them by the present caretaker regime.

On the other hand, some health experts even welcomed the medicines price deregulation, saying it was a positive decision as it will ensure availability of many medicines which were not being produced by the local and multinational pharmaceutical firms due to increase in the cost of production and price control by the drug regulatory authority.

“Major economies of the world as well as regional countries like India and Bangladesh don’t control the prices of medicines except for those which are in their list of essential medicines. At the moment, many medicines are not available in the market, because their cost of production has increased and manufacturers and importers are unable to provide them on the controlled price fixed by the regulator,” Dr Faisal Sultan, former Special Assistant to Prime Minister (SAPM) told ‘The News’.

On the other hand, Pakistan Pharmaceutical Manufacturers Association (PPMA) and Pharma Bureau, which represent the multinational pharmaceutical companies in Pakistan, expressed their deep appreciation for the decision of the federal cabinet to deregulate the prices of medicines that are outside the essential medicines list based on the World Health Organisation (WHO) model list.

This important step which follows international best practices and successful pharmaceutical global models will usher in a new era that will ensure the availability of quality medicines at competitive prices and build the foundations of an export-focused pharmaceutical sector, they said.

“Most importantly, it will ease the sufferings of patients who have faced extreme difficulty in recent months due to non-availability of life-saving medicines. It is important to note that even after this step, Pakistan will still have the highest number of medicines under government control and regulation,” PPMA and Pharma Bureau said in a joint statement.

There are 464 medicines in the National Essential Medicines List (NEML) that will remain under price regulation, compared to 232 in India, 117 in Bangladesh and only 60 in Sri Lanka, the statement added.