Price hike of drug reversed

Islamabad: Drug Regulatory Authority of Pakistan (DRAP) reversed its price hike which was by 15 percent of 11000 medicines due to Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif’s order.

On the other hand the Pakistan Pharmaceutical Manufacturing Association (PPMA) announced to challenge the withdrawal of notification in the court.
A senior officer of Ministry of Health Services requesting anonymity told Dawn that due to the price issue, some medicines were not available in the market and people were facing serious problems.
“On Friday, the prime minister took notice of the price increase and instructed the ministry to withdraw the notification due to which within 24 hours of issuance, notification has been withdrawn,” he said.

“Medicines will be sold on same prices before the issuance of notification. Although it is a good decision by the prime minister and favors the masses, there are chances that manufacturers will stop production. The government will have no choice but to import drugs,” he said.
“If medicines are imported, their prices will be high and it will also increase the import bill of the government,” he added.

Minister National Health Services Saira Afzal Tarar confirmed that the notification has been withdrawn on the orders of the prime minister.
“Now a high level committee will be constituted on the directions of the prime minister and it will decide about the prices on case to case basis,” she added.