Pharma companies demand increase in medicine prices

The Pakistan Pharmaceutical Manufacturers Association (PPMA) has demanded the government increase medicine prices by 25%, ARY News reported.

According to details, the PPMA has given the government an ultimatum till June 30 to notify the increase in medicine prices otherwise there will be a shortage of medicine in the country.

President PPMA said that the sky-high rate of inflation has thrown the Pharma industry into the deep end. The medicine production cost has increased multiple times, he added.

The association demanded to increase the medicine prices to compensate for the rise in inflation, especially since the new government has taken charge.

The PPMA President added that the government had promised to remove sales tax on medicine raw materials in the last negotiations. The rates should be increased by June 30, or there will be a medicine shortage in the country, he added.

A medicine shortage could be fatal for people with different diseases. Recently, a similar situation occurred in Sri Lanks when the economic turmoil caused a shortage of medicine.

Also Read: Sri Lankan medicine shortage a “death sentence for some”

Reuters reported that the shortage could soon cause deaths, doctors said, as hospitals are forced to postpone life-saving procedures for their patients because they do not have the necessary drugs.