The Senate standing committee on National Regulations and Services will meet on Wednesday to finalise the controversial drug pricing mechanism that may result in a massive increase in prices of some medicines in the country.
According to documents, a 200 percent hike in the prices of paracetamol and many other essential medicines is expected if the committee approves the new pricing formula presented by Senator Haseeb Khan who is also a member of the committee.
Under the proposed new formula, the price of a medicine will be determined by multiplying its cost with 6.5 or adding 550 percent to the cost of the drug. Experts believe the formula is extremely unfair for consumers and beneficial to manufacturers.
Senator Haseeb Khan defended the formula saying it would see decrease in the prices of 75 percent medicines in the country. Haseeb, who himself owns a pharmaceutical company, denied the impression that the formula is aimed at increasing the prices of his company’s medicines.
If the new pricing mechanism is implemented, the price of paracetamol will increase from Rs 0.90 per tablet to Rs 2.93 per tablet. Similarly, Ponston 500mg tablet will be sold for Rs 6.5 per tablet instead of current Rs 2 per tablet. Common antibiotic drug Augmentin which is selling for Rs 13.2 per tablet will be sold for Rs52 per tablet.
Sources in the Drug Regulatory Authority of Pakistan (DRAP) said a member of the committee was using his influence to get the new formula passed before the oath-taking of the new government. They said the caretaker government did not have the mandate to take such an important policy decision which could affect lives of thousands of people. An official of DRAP said senate committee did not have the right to fix prices of drugs as under DRA Act 2012, only the policy board of the authority can approve the drug pricing formula. He said the Ministry of Health’s Pricing Policy Board had also recommended a fair pricing mechanism in 2009 under which the price of a medicine will be determined by adding 105 percent to the cost. “Even if we follow India they add 100 percent to the cost of drug to fix the price of a medicine. But no one adds 550 percent to the cost as proposed by the Senate committee members,” he said.
Interestingly, Senator Haseeb Khan admitted that the committee is not empowered to prepare the drug pricing policy. “Our committee is actually formulating recommendations and it is up to DRAP’s policy board to accord final approval to the drug pricing policy” he said.
He was of the view that a drug pricing formula was essential to regulate the ever-increasing prices of medicines in the country. “Certain elements in the pharmaceutical industry are opposing my formula as it would cut their prices,” he said adding that majority of local pharmaceutical companies were producing sub-standard drugs.
It is very shameful and joke with humainbeing,
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