Dr Mushtaq Noorwala, Managing Executive of Specific Research Laboratories, has urged caretaker Prime Minister Mohammadmian Soomro not to legislate and implement data protection law.
In a letter to the Caretaker Prime Minister and Caretaker Minister for Commerce, he said that the data protection law and its introduction and legislation is under active consideration of the concerned ministry under directive of the present government. The same in the present circumstances is not warranted and is against the interest of pharmaceutical exports and its whole sector.
Time and again the government while announcing health policy for the Nation "Health for All" assured provision of better and cheaper health coverage and access to all the citizens so as to provide them cost effective treatment to suit the pocket of every common man.
Justifying demand, he said that if the data protection law is implemented, it is feared that it will not only cause gross injury to poor patients, but also to the duly licensed national pharmaceutical industries numbering over 400, which are catering to the need of quality medicine of the country. These units are mostly producing branded generic quality preparations and are economical as compared to those from other developed world. If the data protection law is legislated, implemented, industry will be forced to close down solely due to this law.
He pointed out that parallel policy has also been adopted by most of the developing and underdeveloped countries not to implement such data protection law as it takes away the right from their nation for cost effective and cheaper access of treatment.
He invited their attention to Doha Convention and WTO policy relating to safeguarding interest of ailing patients for getting access to cost effective medicine when mitigation is the sole objective. World Health Organisation is also in agreement with the similar policy of providing cheap treatment.