Pharmaceutical manufacturers have drastically increased the prices of some drugs, but on the other hand herbal medicine producers have increased the prices of entire range of their products within a month, a survey conducted by Business Recorder revealed.
Traders at wholesale medicine market told Business Recorder that the pharma companies have increased the price of Estrogen skin ointment from Rs 580 to Rs 1,100 per tube, Advant 16 mg tab (used for blood pressure) from Rs 290 per pack to Rs 327 per pack, Gatril 4 mg (anti-epilepsy drug) from Rs 300 per pack to Rs 340 per pack, Klaricid XL Tab 500 mg tabs (anti-bacterial drug) from Rs 545 to Rs 950 per pack and Diacerin capsules (anti-inflammatory analgesics and antipyretic drug) from Rs 600 per pack to Rs 750 per pack.
Traders said that the pharma companies are also overcharging the price of tetanus injection. The prescribed price of the tetanus injection is Rs 42 per injection while the companies are charging Rs 82 per injection. They said Neurox capsules used for improving the function of stimulated immune cells actually cost Rs 500 per 60 packs is selling at Rs 2,000 in the market, while the rest of Rs 1,500 are divided by the pharma company and doctors who prescribe it for patients of which Rs 700 goes to the pharma company and Rs 800 to doctors.
They said that the pharma companies are free to fix their own prices of vitamin and calcium tabs and syrups, while there is no check on the prices of the herbal and Unani medicines. The herbal medicine companies are increasing the prices of their products on quarterly basis. Ashraf Labs of Faisalabad, Marhaba of Lahore, Hamdard of Karachi, Qarshi of Lahore have increased the price of their cough syrups by Rs 20 per syrup bottle from Rs 60 per syrup bottle to Rs 80 per syrup bottle, similarly prices of other herbals medicines have also been drastically increased during past few months, traders maintained.
According to an official of the Pakistan Pharmaceutical Manufacturers Association (PPMA) the country's pharma sector is facing immense issues, adding that 61 percent of the top 28 selling drug brands are cheaper in Pakistan as compared to India and Bangladesh. "It's a misconception in Pakistan that drug prices are expensive than regional countries. Like I said, 61 percent of the 28 top selling brands are cheaper here, while only 39 percent of the leading brands are slightly expensive than India," he said.
The government has not allowed an across-the-board price increase since 2001. Thus, price constraints have not only eroded profitability of companies over the last decade but also discouraged investments in the sector, he added. The government has denied companies an increase in prices on 318 molecules that form the components of hundreds of drugs, forcing them to reduce some prices by as much as 30 percent. On the other hand, companies say this is forcing them out of the business owing to the rising cost of production.
He maintained that the government should focus on some of the major initiatives to develop the pharmaceutical sector. Pricing should be reformed and rationalised to support public health and industry performance, and incentives be offered to invest in FDA-quality plants to gain access to largest export markets, he added.
There are 90 FDA certified plants in India while Italy has 40, China 22, Taiwan 10, Bangladesh four, and Jordan has three such plants but, unfortunately, Pakistan has not a single plant which is certified by the FDA. He also said that due to pricing issues, availability of essential drugs in Pakistan is becoming a serious issue.
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