Essential medicines: Efforts afoot to ensure availability at affordable prices: PM

Prime Minister Imran Khan Wednesday said the government was determined to ensure easy availability of life saving drugs along with other essential medicines at affordable prices because it attached high priority to the life of its people.
The prime minister was chairing a meeting over the availability of necessary drugs in the country, and the role, functions and responsibility of the Drug Regulatory Authority of Pakistan (DRAP) to determine suitable prices, PM office media wing in a press release said.
The prime minister was given a detailed briefing over the availability of essential medicines especially of life saving drugs and the price mechanism etc.
The meeting also discussed in detail the steps over performance of DRAP, measures aimed at making it more efficient, eradication of corruption and other malpractices.
The meeting was attended by Special Assistant to the PM on Health Dr Zafar Mirza, Attorney General for Pakistan Khalid Javed Khan, Secretary National Health Services and Regulations, CEO DRAP Asim Rauf and other senior officials.
The prime minister also underlined the main role of DRAP as the regulator of medicines.
The prime minister said efforts for making DRAP further efficient should be expedited while the manpower requirement of the authority at the administrative level be addressed on priority basis.
With regard to enhancing the efficiency of DRAP and elimination of corruption, the prime minister said the government had a very clear stance over the framing of policies and their implementation.
He observed that there was a difference between the concerned sections over policy making process and its implementation and their merger gave rise to different issues.
The prime minister also directed for taking necessary steps for separation of both sections of the authority.
The meeting also considered issues pertaining to Pakistan Medical and Dental Council.
The prime minister directed that under the courts decisions, all the required steps should be completed on priority basis so that the doctors and other people associated with this sector should not face any difficulty.