Soaring medicine prices have left millions without treatment, warns PMA

PPMA is now pushing for another increase in prices of 262 essential medicines, citing unsustainable costs

By M. Waqar Bhatti
February 27, 2025
The Pakistan Medical Association (PMA) building seen in this image. — Facebook@PakistanMedicalAssociationKarachi/File
The Pakistan Medical Association (PMA) building seen in this image. — Facebook@PakistanMedicalAssociationKarachi/File

The Pakistan Medical Association (PMA) has warned that the continuous rise in medicine prices is making health care unaffordable for millions, forcing many to suffer or even die without treatment.

Speaking at a press conference on Wednesday, PMA Secretary General Dr Abdul Ghafoor Shoro, Chairman E.B. JPMA Dr Shahid Sami, Editor The Medical Gazette Dr Ameer Muhammad Solangi, and PMA Karachi President Dr Shoaib Sobani highlighted the alarming state of healthcare in Pakistan. They presented the “Health of the Nation” Report 2025, which exposes severe shortcomings in the country’s healthcare system, including inaccessibility of medicines, rising disease burden, and declining government spending on health.

Over the past five years, successive governments have approved 15 rounds of medicine price hikes, making life-saving drugs unaffordable for the majority. The Pakistan Pharmaceutical Manufacturers Association (PPMA) is now pushing for another increase in the prices of 262 essential medicines, citing unsustainable costs.

With public hospitals already lacking adequate facilities, this surge in medicine prices is pushing healthcare further out of reach for millions of Pakistanis. The middle class is struggling, while the poor are unable to afford even basic treatment, the report states.

The World Health Organization (WHO) Global Health Expenditure Report 2024 reveals that government spending on healthcare has declined, leaving millions without access to essential medical services. In 2024 alone, 11 million Pakistanis were pushed into poverty due to out-of-pocket healthcare expenses. The PMA urged the government to prioritize Universal Health Coverage (UHC) to protect citizens from financial ruin caused by medical costs.

At the press conference, Dr Abdul Ghafoor Shoro, Dr Shahid Sami, Dr Ameer Muhammad Solangi, and Dr Shoaib Sobani warned that without urgent action, Pakistan’s healthcare system will collapse, leaving millions without access to basic medical care.