PM orders review of medicine prices amid public outcry

ISLAMABAD: Alarmed by soaring drug prices and growing public outrage over unaffordable medicines, Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif has directed the Drug Regulatory Authority of Pakistan (DRAP) to get the policy of medicine price deregulation independently reviewed to assess its impact on public affordability, officials confirmed on Friday.

Acting swiftly on the prime minister’s instructions, the Drap has approached the World Health Organization (WHO) country office in Islamabad to conduct a comprehensive analysis of the policy which was introduced during the 2024 tenure of the caretaker government led by Anwaar-ul-Haq Kakar.

The WHO has been formally asked to examine the consequences of the deregulated pricing regime on patient access and recommend corrective measures.

“There is a growing unease among patients and healthcare providers about the unchecked rise in medicine prices,” a senior health official told The News. “The prime minister wants a neutral, technical review of the deregulation framework and its real-world consequences.”

Federal Minister for Health Mustafa Kamal and Minister of State for Health Malik Mukhtar Ahmed Bharath have also taken notice of the crisis and summoned a detailed report from the Drap on how much prices of non-essential medicines have increased over the past year, and what justifications pharmaceutical companies have offered for these hikes. “If a person’s monthly medicine cost has jumped from Rs800 to Rs2,200 or even Rs2,500, what is the justification for that?” questioned Dr Mukhtar while speaking to The News. “We’ve asked the Drap CEO to compile this data and explain what’s driving these increases.”

The deregulation policy was initially framed to tackle chronic shortages of essential medicines and attract multinational firms by giving them flexibility to adjust prices according to inflation and market forces. However, health officials, legislators and civil society groups argue that the policy has gone on unchecked, with some pharmaceutical firms hiking prices on a monthly or even weekly basis.

Industry data backs these concerns. According to IQVIA, Pakistan’s pharmaceutical market surpassed Rs1.049 trillion in sales by March 2025 a staggering 20.62 per cent growth in rupee terms. However, unit sales rose by just 3.63 per cent, confirming that growth has been driven almost entirely by price increases rather than increased medicine consumption. Nearly 69 per cent of the market growth was due to pricing changes alone. National firms sold 2.91 billion units, showing a modest growth of 4.98 per cent, while multinational companies saw a decline in volume but a sharp rise in sales value, underscoring how price hikes, not demand, drove revenue.

Even basic over-the-counter drugs like paracetamol have seen price instability.

The WHO’s review is expected to evaluate both economic and health outcomes of deregulated pricing. A Drap official acknowledged the urgency of the matter and said the regulator was “fully cooperating” with the WHO to ensure a comprehensive and independent review. “The market cannot be left completely unregulated, especially for something as vital as medicine. This review will help us set a course towards pricing that’s both fair and sustainable.”

While pharmaceutical companies argue that deregulation is needed to sustain supply chains and hedge against inflation, federal policymakers now face mounting pressure to rein in the free-floating prices and ensure that life-saving medicines don’t become a luxury only the affluent can afford.