Pharmaceutical companies refused to talk to govt leaving Saira Tarar continued to wait
Pharmaceutical companies, after getting a stay order from the courts on the matter of the increase in the prices of medicines, have refused to meet Health Minister Saira Afzal Tarar, while the minister has said that the pharmaceutical companies cannot blackmail the government, adding that the government’s stance will be heard in court.
Negotiations between 11 pharmaceutical companies and the government could not be held, as 10 out of 11 companies have refused to talk to government. A meeting was scheduled for 10 o’clock, but the pharmaceutical companies’ delegation did not show up for the talks, while Saira Afzal Tarar, the health secretary and other top government officials were kept waiting.
Talking to media outside the Parliament House, Minister Saira Afzal Tarar said that the government had called the companies; she said that one of the groups of companies showed up but the other one did not. Tarar added that she already had approached the court.
She said that 9 companies are manufacturing hepatitis medicine, while the government has introduced medicines at low prices.
