Multinational drugs companies are all set to increase medicine prices by 25 percent across the country as they have already stopped supplying certain drugs to the market, sources apprised Business Recorder on Tuesday. Dealers and wholesalers of drugs said that almost all the pharmaceutical companies particularly multinational companies are not supplying a range of drugs to medical stores, as they are incline towards increasing the prices.
They said that pharmaceutical companies have announced to increase the prices of multivitamins, but actually they are using this as a cover as they have already stopped supplying certain medicines to the market. Drug dealers also said that the ministry of health was not doing anything in this regard. They blamed the ministry officials for allowing all pharmaceutical companies to increase prices of their drugs after getting bribe.
Talking to this scribe, a medical practitioner Dr Hamza Awan said that taking advantage of the anticipated increase in prices of medicines, majority of pharmaceutical companies stopped supply of their products to the market, which was likely to allow the hoarders to make windfall profits overnight at the cost of helpless consumers.
He claimed that every family would now be compelled to allocate 30 percent more expenditure to health issues. On the other hand, patients and their attendants at Pakistan Institute of Medical Sciences (PIMS) complained that under the prevailing circumstances, when the masses were unable to cope up with unbridled increase in prices of essential commodities, the increase in medicine prices will compound their miseries.
Besides, frequent upward revision in power tariff and fuel, the latest decision on drug prices would be totally unacceptable to the people, said Abdul Shakoor a patient at PIMS hospital.
It transpired during a visit to Bohar Bazaar, wholesale medicine market of the twin cities of Rawalpindi-Islamabad, that medicines for curing cough, heart disease, blood pressure, fever, stomach disorders, cold, flu and a number of other diseases were not available. Some of the medicines, in high demand and are currently missing or insufficient in supply included Corex-D, Panadol, Zentix, Penbritin, Ponstan, and Mucaine.
A whole seller, Waleed Ahmed blamed Pakistan Pharmaceutical Manufacturers Association (PPMA) for using its connection in the Health Ministry to increase medicine prices. An official of the PPMA in his reaction claimed that during the last seven years, prices of medicines had remained unchanged despite steep rise in inflation and the increase in the input of the pharmaceutical sector, which forced the industry to face worst crisis ever.
He said currently 400 pharmaceutical companies, 375 local and 25 international were operating; providing employment opportunities to 400,000 to 500,000 people related to this trade. He also said that due to high input costs, transportation cost, devaluation of rupee against international currencies like US Dollar and Euro, increase in drug prices became inevitable for pharmaceutical companies.
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