The government on Monday warned that drug prices must not be increased without valid justification and ordered a review of the existing pricing formula to ensure medicines are priced fairly without creating unnecessary hurdles for patients, importers or the pharmaceutical industry.
asserted
medicines → warn → patients
Economic Affairs Minister Ahad Cheema, who chaired a meeting of the Drug Regulatory Authority of Pakistan (Drap), directed officials to expedite the processing of pending drug-pricing cases after being briefed that their case-by-case evaluation was almost complete.
asserted
evaluation → chair → case
The minister appreciated the progress and acknowledged the efforts of Climate Change Minister Dr Musadik Malik and Drap officials in completing the evaluation.
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minister → appreciate → evaluation
Health Secretary Momin Agha, Drap Chief Executive Officer Dr Obaidullah Malik and other senior officials also attended the meeting.
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Agha → attend → meeting
The meeting was also informed that sufficient quantities of the trivalent influenza vaccine recommended by the World Health Organisation (WHO) were available in the market.
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quantities → inform → market
Drap had withdrawn the hardship case relating to the vaccine as its prices were controlled in the international market.
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prices → withdraw → market
Officials told the meeting that Drap was reviewing the existing drug-pricing formula and examining provisions that could hinder the determination of fair and accurate prices.
uncertain
that → tell → prices
Cheema suggested that Drap consider subscribing to specialised international databases on drug prices to strengthen independent assessment and provide more reliable benchmarks for pricing decisions.
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Drap → suggest → decisions
“Public facilitation should remain the government’s top priority,” he emphasised, adding that any increase in medicine prices without valid justification was unacceptable.
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increase → remain → justification
The minister said price comparisons with other countries could provide useful benchmarks, but stressed the need for independent checks and balances in the pricing process.
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comparisons → say → process
Cheema ordered that the pricing mechanism should remain people-centred while avoiding unnecessary barriers for importers and pharmaceutical companies.
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mechanism → order → importers
Meanwhile, the Pakistan Pharmaceutical Manufacturers Association (PPMA) urged the government to engage industry in the formula review so that the outcome could be workable and sustainable.
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outcome → urge → review
PPMA Vice Chairman Usman Shaukat told Dawn that the pharmaceutical industry fully shared the government’s objective that medicines must remain affordable and accessible to every Pakistani.
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medicines → tell → Pakistani
“No responsible manufacturer seeks an unjustified price increase, and we welcome Senator Ahad Cheema’s direction to expedite pending pricing cases and to review the pricing formula.
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we → seek → formula
A fair, transparent and predictable mechanism serves patients and industry alike,” he said.
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he → serve → patients
“However, affordability and availability go hand in hand.
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affordability → go → hand
The real threat to patients is not a justified price adjustment but a medicine disappearing from the shelf.”
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threat → disappear → shelf
Shaukat noted that products become unviable when the cost of active ingredients, packaging, energy, freight and compliance rises — most of which is imported and relies on the dollar — and prices remain frozen for years.
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prices → note → years
“Manufacturers are then forced to stop production, which creates shortages and pushes patients towards costlier imported alternatives, smuggled stock or spurious medicines,“ he explained.
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he → force → alternatives
Shaukat said that the industry supports the use of international benchmarks and independent databases, provided comparisons account for the cost of doing business within Pakistan, high financing costs, exchange-rate exposure and the fact that Pakistani medicine prices are already among the lowest in the region.
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prices → say → region
“Benchmarks should be a tool for fairness, not a ceiling that ignores input costs,” he highlighted.
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he → ignore → costs
“PPMA proposes that the revised formula include a clear, time-bound and rules-based mechanism, including periodic CPI and cost-linked adjustments, so that hardship cases do not pile up and decisions are not delayed for years,” Shaukat added.
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Shaukat → propose → years
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