Speaking at the plant expansion ceremony of the Abbott Laboratories in Karachi on Friday, Federal Health Minister Mohammed Nasir Khan exhorted the multinational pharmaceutical companies in particular and the national companies in general to make their products affordable for the poor.
Representatives of the pharmaceutical companies, on the other hand, reiterated their demand for regular price adjustments to offset inflation as well as for protection against rigid registration rules and violation of intellectual property rights.
Needless to say, the government has a responsibility to look after the welfare of the less advantaged sections of society, especially when it comes to provision of basic necessities like medicines on affordable prices.
As the minister pointed out, the health scene in Pakistan presents a dismal picture. What once were regarded as "rich man's diseases" are now common among the poor.
The incidence of life threatening diseases like heart problem, diabetes, HIV/AIDs and hypertension, he averred, has assumed alarming proportions. As per his estimate, 70 percent of the low-income population suffers from these ailments.
That estimate may be somewhat exaggerated, yet there is no denying that rapidly changing life styles as well as indiscriminate use of pesticides, herbicides and certain types of fertilisers have spelt hazardous consequences for public health.
The pharmaceutical industry has a valid case when it complains of the ever rising prices of raw materials as well as inflation, and, therefore, calls for price adjustments.
To be fair to the industry, the government has not been sympathetic to this industry's complaints.
Yet it cannot ignore the hardships faced by the ordinary people on account of price increases.
The government has to see that the return to pharma industry has to be positive. Discontinuation of local formulation of a medicine and replacing it with imports is far worse since imported medicines are even more expensive.
That though is not the only problem. As the Health Minister pointed out, the implementation date of WTO is just round the corner, which means the pharmaceutical industry will have to face competition not only in quality, but also in pricing and new formulations.
Hence competitive price structures and full compliance with quality standards is the need of the hour.
At this point, it may be too much too expect the companies to earmark substantial funds for research and development in order to make new finds.
The key to better returns is expansion of the export base; the economy of scale thus achieved can help make up for narrow profit margins at home.
There is a huge potential in the export market. The managing director of the Abbott Laboratories confirmed that fact when he disclosed that his company's first quarter exports during 2004 were 28 percent higher as compared to the same period in the last year.
"We expect rapid growth over the next few years," he, said, "due to market diversification and increased registration."
He further disclosed that presently Abbott Pakistan is exporting 48 products to seven countries, and that 53 products are under registration in 11 other countries.
Similar opportunities, of course, are available to other companies as well.
For its part, the government must play its due role in helping the pharmaceutical industry by removing the unnecessary hindrance caused by certain contentious registration rules.
Equally important, it must effectively address the issue of intellectual property violations that are galore. It has also a lot of work to do towards putting a stop to the menace of spurious drug production.
For at least the past three decades, despite persistent public outcry and strong criticism by the medical community, manufacture of fake drugs, including life saving ones, continues to play havoc with public health.
It is about time that the government took stringent practical measures to end this nefarious practice.
Raids by FIA alone have not been meaningful. Drug inspectors as well as pharma representative must accompany the law enforcement officials in these raids and also share intelligence with each other.
While it is the duty of the government to save loss of life from spurious drugs, the pharma industry would also gain from the elimination of counterfeit medicines.
The government must respond to all these issues with a well thought-out plan. Only then can it hope to have a healthy and vibrant pharmaceutical export sector, and consequently expect the drug manufacturers, both multinational and local, to be able to pay attention to his apt assertion, "we both are responsible to help the low income people."
Comments
Comments are closed.