'Pharmaceutical industry needed transparent drug pricing policy'

Federal Health Secretary Khushnood Akhtar Lashari has urged pharmaceutical manufacturers to produce quality products besides ensuring availability of the medicines to the people at affordable prices.
Lashari, speaking as chief guest at a seminar on "ethical marketing of pharma products" organised by the Pharma Bureau in an Islamabad hotel, said the pharma industry needed a transparent drug pricing policy to ensure a predictable business plan. He also said that availability of quality medicines to people had to be ensured for better health care.
He said the profitability of the pharma industry is direly needed for ensuring continued availability of the quality drugs to the sick people at reasonable prices.
He suggested that physicians and pharma industry representatives should sit together to formulate a guideline in line with the best international practices and ensure these are followed by all concerned in letter and spirit. He said the guidelines, formulated should be periodically reviewed to undertake critical analysis of whether these are being followed by all stakeholders.
He also told the audience that the federal government was giving serious consideration to review and revise the Statutory Regulatory Order (SRO) 944, which has caused lot of concerns to the pharmaceutical industry.
He appreciated the fact that the pharma industry has always demonstrated responsibility that can be gauged by the important role it had played during the massive earthquake in the Northern Areas and Azad Kashmir.
Pakistan Pharmaceutical Manufacturers Association (PPMA) representative Kashif Sajjad said there was need to provide quality medicines at affordable prices to people having a limited access to healthcare facilities in the country.
He advocated the need for evolving a Code of Conduct by all the stakeholders. He also suggested that the compliance and monitoring committees within the pharma industry and medical community should be set up and, if needed, some laws should also be formulated.
Pakistan Medical Association (PMA)'s representative Dr Tipu Sultan gave an informative presentation titled "Industry-Physician Interaction" with the help of soul searching slides as he dilated on all unethical practices related to surgical referrals, human organs trade, demanding favours from the pharma companies, commission from labs and x-ray centers etc.
Pharma Bureau Chairman Juergen Koenig in his address said the seminar was the third annual one organised by the Pharma Bureau, which believes in "the right people the right things at the right time".
He said it was encouraging to note participation of the PMA and the PPMA in the seminar as they have to play an important role in the implementation of the Code of Ethics.-PR