Pharmas empowered to regulate non-essential drugs’ prices

ISLAMABAD: Following a health ministry notification issued after approval by the federal cabinet allowing pharmaceutical companies to regulate the rates of non-essential medicines,

it is being apprehended that prices of these drugs will rise, adding to the financial burden of the patients.

Under the new regulations, pharmaceutical companies have been authorized to determine the prices of non-essential medicines. However, it's important to note that they cannot regulate the prices of medicines listed in the National Essential Medicine List (NEML), which comprises 464 essential medicines. Prices of life-saving drugs will continue to be regulated by the Drug Regulatory Authority of Pakistan (Drap).

In a previous meeting, the federal cabinet endorsed the deregulation of medicines not included in the NEML based on recommendations from the Ministry of Health. According to the proposed changes, prices of medicines outside the essential list will be exempted from the Drugs Act of 1976, and necessary amendments will be made to the Drug Pricing Policy of 2018.

It's worth mentioning that during its meeting on February 2, the federal cabinet approved price increases for 146 essential life-saving medicines. This decision was made in response to the escalating prices of raw materials in the global market.