ABDUL RASHEED AZAD

ISLAMABAD: Pakistan is facing financial losses of Rs112 billion per annum due to freeze on drug prices, while national pharmaceutical exports have declined to $103 million from $250 million during the last four years.

This was the crux of a discussion among the health experts at a seminar titled ‘Access to Essential Medicines’ organised by Policy Research Institute of Market Economy (PRIME) for overcoming policy barriers in access to quality medicine. The event was focussed on identifying problems in healthcare and pharmaceutical sector as well as for proposing possible solutions.

According to the findings of a recent survey, a number of drugs including those for heart, skin, allergy, depression, strokes and TB, vaccines, nutritional supplements (folic acid, steroids etc), and others are not available in the market.

The survey also noted that many essential drugs remained short in supply in the market throughout the year.

The participants said the government has to provide a level-playing field to the pharma industry in a bid to enable it to compete with the regional players, otherwise the sector will demise.

According to a research paper published by PRIME titled “Pricing out Welfare: The Effects of Government Regulations on Pakistan’s Pharmaceutical Market,” the government restrictions have caused tremendous damage to this industry, leading to the erosion of welfare for both the consumers and producers. Essential medicines are unavailable, smuggled or available at black market prices. The calculations based on four selected criteria show that on average, the yearly loss amounts to Rs112 billion, it added.

The event was moderated by Dr Shimail Daud, former President of Rawalpindi Chamber of Commerce and Industry (RCCI). The panel of experts included Dr Manzoor Ahmad, Pakistan’s former ambassador to the World Trade Organisation, Shahid Mehmood, head of research at PRIME, and Dr AQ Javed Iqbal, member of the Pharmacy Council of Pakistan.

Moderating the discussion, Dr Shimail Daud stated that in spite of an average cumulative growth rate of around 12% in the pharmaceutical industry, he was worried about the future of the industry.

While sharing the findings of a recent survey conducted on access to essential medicines, he said that some statistics say that only 39% of essential medications are available in the government sector, while Aga Khan University (AKU) studies say that only 3.3% are available. He added that out of 70,000 registered medicine brands worldwide, about 10,000 are produced in Pakistan.

During her closing address, Chief Operating Officer PRIME Ayesha Bilal observed that in the midst of regulations and restrictions, the most crucial aspect of this debate, i.e. patient care, seems to get trivialised.

Ayesha in her closing remarks stated that the primary purpose of this event was to initiate a discussion on the availability of medicine to Pakistanis by cultivating a relationship of cooperation between the public and private sector.

She stated that the focus should instead be on increasing bed turnover and providing a more productive, healthy life to everyone where quality medicines are available to all.

Dr AQ Javed Iqbal stated that applications for registering lifesaving anti-cancer drugs have been pending in Pakistan since 2009 and those drugs have not been registered yet. Cancer has become highly treatable worldwide but deaths due to cancer are on the rise because of a lack of quality treatment. It is absolutely criminal if patients are not provided with the required medication.

He added that 60 out of 100 anti-cancer medications available worldwide are not available in Pakistan. The government needs to remedy the situation. He concluded by saying that healthcare practices are futile without effective drugs. Ineffective drugs hamper the whole healthcare system, long-term illness leads to more occupancy of hospital beds, crowding out new patients and putting pressure on limited hospital resources.

Senator Mian Ateeq observed that Pakistan has not developed a list of essential medicines for the past 10-12 years. He shared when he presented the issue in the Senate he was told that it is a devolved matter. He stressed that the both Centre and the provinces should take responsibility for this issue. He said that drugs are cheap in India because of clearer regulations regarding licensing, legislation, pricing, and quality.

Manzoor Ahmed speaking on the future of policy in the pharma and healthcare sector said that Pakistan must manage its pricing policy and join international pharmaceutical conventions to facilitate trade, engage in contract manufacturing, and benchmark its policies with comparable economies and neighbours such as India.

Director Pricing of Drug Regulatory Authority (DRAP), Amanullah during the question and answer session stated that the broad understanding of Pakistani drug regulatory environment is weak, and requires greater attention in order to deal with its specific intricacies.