Daily Times

Pakistan Pharmaceutical Manufacturers’ Association (PPMA) urged federal government to allow local drug manufacturers to make a rational increase in drug prices, keeping in view the alarming inflationary trends in economy.

PPMA chairman Zahid Saeed while addressing a press conference on Saturday said that PPMA members would be compelled to increase drug prices unilaterally if a rational approach was not taken regarding drug pricing.

Saeed said that manufacturers had been left with a few choices ahead. He claimed that up to 250 medicines had virtually vanished from pharma market of country because their manufacturers found it unfeasible to continue their production in the current circumstances.

He said that increase in prices of locally produced medicines would be a highly undesirable step for pharmaceutical manufacturers and such a decision would only be taken to keep industry afloat only for sake of patients’ needs. He said that manufacturing cost of medicines in country had shot up to 60 percent due to record devaluation of rupee and increase in duties and taxes on industry.

Saeed said that federal government had been reluctant to notify new prices of a number of medicines and over a year had passed since the Drug Pricing Committee (DPC) had passed since recommendations to this effect. He said that it was high time for the government to notify new prices of drugs as per recommendations of DPC and any further delay to this effect would compel the industry to take a unilateral decision.

He demanded that the government consider the factor of fluctuation of value of local currency to keep industry viable for continuance of its production while adopting a pricing mechanism.

Former PPMA chairman Kaiser Waheed said that implementation on new drug pricing policy had been pending since last year to utter disadvantage of industry. He said that government was not interested in strengthening the local drug manufacturing industry. He said that one way out for industry could be compromising on quality of medicines but that would not be in interest of any of the stakeholders involved.

PPMA leaders demanded Prime Minister (PM) Imran Khan and Ministry of National Health Services, Regulation and Coordination and Drug Regulatory Authority of Pakistan to immediately take cognisance of situation and order due corrective measures for provision of just relief to manufacturers of medicines.

Published in Daily Times, December 9^th 2018.