Meds for the people

Over the last few weeks, all we have been watching on the news is how well economic indicators have performed throughout the year. While this does call for celebrations, there is also an urgent need to understand how the economic turnaround has affected ordinary Pakistanis. A few days back, a report by the IQVIA, a leading global provider of advanced analytics, technology solutions and clinical research services to the life sciences industry, highlighted growth in Pakistan’s pharmaceutical sector. The industry grew by an impressive 21.79 per cent in the third quarter of 2024 compared to the same period last year, reaching a market value of Rs962.5 billion, the monitoring firm said. This was largely driven by a deregulatory policy announced by the Anwaarul Haq Kakar-led caretaker government in 2023, allowing pharmaceutical companies to independently raise prices for non-essential drugs excluded from the National Essential Medicines List (NEML). But this has led to a drop in sales. Experts say that the sector’s growth is largely fuelled by price adjustments the companies were allowed to make instead of an increase in sales volume. What is even worse is the fact that this price increase has affected people’s ability to buy medicines.

Medicines have long enjoyed inelastic demand, with price adjustments not affecting sales. But perhaps those responsible for this classification were not aware to what extent a pandemic, an unexpected war and domestic political instability could affect a developing country’s economic conditions. We have reached a point where, according to pharmacy owners, people are cutting down on their medicines to meet their budgets. For years, inflationary pressures were less pronounced mostly because many people rely on charities and other welfare organisations to get medicines either for free or at discounted rates. Then, most private institutions also provided medical facilities to their employees. As the economy suffered, private companies removed perks and other benefits. According to several doctors, some medicines have seen a 100 per cent price hike; one brand of antispasmodic medicine has gone up by 218 per cent, while other medicines have also witnessed a significant increase in their prices. Nutritional supplements, essential for the elderly, have also become quite expensive. People should not be brought to a point where they have to ration their medicines or beg doctors to tweak their prescriptions according to their budget.

The government has to come up with a way where both businesses and people are satisfied. People’s purchasing power will increase if they have enough job opportunities to increase their income. Since the Covid-19 pandemic, the country has been in the grip of an economic crunch. The gig economy that thrived pre-Covid is also fading away. The spark and optimism needed for a country’s growth is deeply missing. If the government does not act today, it will be too late.