Pharma Bureau Pakistan's executive director Ayesha T Haq has said that the incoming government will have a golden opportunity to accelerate economic growth by focus on pharmaceutical sector that will also help solve many issues being faced by health sector.
Talking to Business Recorder on Monday, the PB's executive director said that the pharma industry has the potential to provide job opportunities, grow exports and develop sustainable economic growth if provided with the correct and consistent policy direction by the regulators and government. The industry would benefit the country if the pricing issue is solved as all aspects such as quality, safety, environment, anti-counterfeit measures are directly linked with reasonable prices for medicines.
"About 90% of all medicines are locally manufactured. The Pharma industry is the largest employer of university graduates and if allowed to grow, has the potential of being a huge employer for both skilled and semi-skilled workers," she said, adding that with government support, the industry can provide more job opportunities and earn much-needed foreign exchange by increasing exports from Pakistan.
Ayesha T Haq said new pricing policy formulated by the government in consultation with all stakeholders addressed most of the industry concerns but the impact of currency devaluation, despite industry requests, was not dealt with. She said Pakistani rupee has depreciated by 25% in the last six months, which has put the Pharma industry under immense pressure as most of the raw materials are imported. She said new pricing policy now allows an annual inflationary adjustment in prices by last year's CPI as published by Pakistan Bureau of Statistics.
"A price increase of up to a mere 4% of inflation against 25% rupee depreciation does not solve the pricing issue," she said, adding that regulators in the country are focused solely on pricing and have neglected crucial aspects such as quality, research and development, technology transfer, and employment generation.
She said that regulators should focus on quality, ethics and availability of medicines. She noted that in Punjab, government focused on quality as the top criteria for selection of tenders for procurement of medicine. She said up to 95% of patient's expenses comprise of hospitalization expenses, doctors' fees, and lab expenses which are completely unregulated. Further, the issue of delivering healthcare to citizens cannot be realized unless initiatives such as Universal Healthcare are implemented in Pakistan.
"Pharma Bureau members follow a very strict code of ethics," she said, adding that the PB is a representative body of multinational pharmaceutical companies operating in Pakistan.
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