The government of Pakistan is formulating a new law to regulate drug. This act will help ensure the safety of medicines and facilities. I think it should also try to sanction laws that will help promote this industry and make it more profitable and sustainable.
One problem faced by this industry is production capacity barriers. Of the 700 registered pharmaceutical companies in Pakistan, less than half of them are selling and promoting their products through truthful doctor prescription. Then there are other companies that don’t have the capability or experience of selling through proper channels. To cover their costs these companies then sell their products through bulk cheap rates to other more stint and thrifty businessmen, who use methods that are precarious and harmful to the public, to sell these products.
To stop this type of fallacious business from happening in Europe and US and also to allow new pharmaceutical companies to be set up, they have laws that allow toll manufacturing between the companies. This allows the new companies that lack sales team, to still make a profit by manufacturing another companies’ products. It also allows the companies with high demand for their products, to grow with their demand, rather get stuck when they reach their production capacity.
If the government sets a small fee on this toll license, they can generate a lot of income, which can pay for the cost of more meticulous drug inspectors. It will also stop the process of trading or selling medicines in bulk at low costs, which is illegal under profiteering and damages the health of the public.
It will also help reduce the plethora of registered products and improve record keeping. It will help the sporadic listless pharmaceutical industry of Pakistan to grow into a mature proliferating sector, while creating thousands of new jobs and generating millions of tax revenue.
SHAHRYAR KHAN BASEER
Peshawar
