Policy barriersin access to quality medicine discussed

Islamabad: Prime Institute an independent public policy Think tank working in Islamabad for an Open, Free and Prosperous Pakistani economy, conducted a policy roundtable on overcoming policy barriers in access to quality medicine. The round table event was focused on identifying problems in the healthcare and pharmaceuticals sector, as well proposing possible solutions.

The Roundtable brought together notable personalities from the public and private sectors including regulators, senior management from pharmaceutical and healthcare companies, economists, and policy professionals.

The event was moderated by Dr Shimail Daud who is a former president of the Rawalpindi Chambers of Commerce and Industries. The panel of experts included Dr Manzoor Ahmad, Pakistan’s former ambassador to the World Trade organisation, Shahid Mehmood Head of research at PRIME Institute and Dr AQ Javed Iqbal, member of the Pharmacy Council of Pakistan.

Moderating the discussion, Dr Shimail Daud, former President of the Rawalpindi Chamber of Commerce and Industries stated that In spite of an average cumulative growth rate of around 12% in the pharmaceutical industry, it is worried about its future.

Shahid Mehmood shared the findings of a recent survey conducted on access to essential medicines while top policy experts will comment on the issue. He said that some statistics say that only 39% of essential medication is available in the government sector, while AKU studies say that only 3.3% are available. He added that out of 70,000 registered medication worldwide, only about 10,000 are produced in Pakistan.

In 2015, Prime published a paper titled ‘Pricing out Welfare: The Effects of Government Regulations on Pakistan’s Pharmaceutical Market’ which argued that government restrictions have caused tremendous damage to this industry, leading to the erosion of welfare for both the consumers and producers. Essential medicines are unavailable, smuggled or available at black market prices. The calculations based on four selected criteria shows that on average, the yearly loss amounts to Rs. 112 billion!

During her closing address, Ayesha Bilal Chief Operating Officer at PRIME Institute observed that in the midst of regulations and restrictions, the most crucial aspect of this debate seems to get trivialised, i.e. patient care.

She stated that that the focus should instead be to increase bed turnover and provide a more productive, healthy life to everyone where quality medicines are available to all. In 2015, PRIME published a paper titled “Pricing out Welfare: The Effects of Government Regulations on Pakistan’s Pharmaceutical Market” which argued that government restrictions have caused tremendous damage to this industry, leading to the erosion of welfare for both the consumers and producers. Essential medicines are unavailable, smuggled or available at black market prices. The calculations based on four selected criteria shows that on average, the yearly loss amounts to Rs. 112 billion!

Dr AQ Javed Iqbal stated that applications for registering lifesaving anti-cancer drugs have been pending in Pakistan from as long ago as 2009, but those drugs have not been registered yet. Cancer has become highly treatable worldwide, but deaths due to cancer are on the rise because of a lack of quality treatment. It is absolutely criminal not to provide patients with the required medication.

He added that 60 out of 100 anti-cancer medication available worldwide are not available in Pakistan. The government needs to remedy this situation. He concluded by saying that Healthcare practices are futile without effective drugs. Ineffective drugs hamper the whole healthcare system – long-term illness leads to more occupancy of hospital beds, crowding out new patients and putting pressure on limited hospital resources.