Faisal Kamal Pasha

ISLAMABAD, Aug 19 (INP-WealthPK): Pharmaceutical manufacturers have demanded an increase in prices of medicines amid rising input costs and volatile exchange rate.On August 16, the federal cabinet rejected a demand of the pharmaceutical industry to increase the prices of 35 categories of essential medicines.

Talking to WealthPK, Uzair Nagra, President of Pakistan Pharmaceutical Manufacturers Association (PPMA), said the federal cabinet’s decision had disappointed the association despite the fact that it had only demanded increase in prices of 35 medicines out of 160 categories.

He said the increase was sought as losing value of the rupee against the US dollar had jacked up the cost of raw material since payments were made in dollars.Nagra said the PPMA had requested the government to let the association increase prices of 35 medicines, but political compulsions did not allow the government to do so.

He said that it was better to ensure availability of medicines in the market even with little higher rates than compelling the pharmaceutical industry to stop producing them at all.The federal cabinet on August 16 had decided that any revision in prices of medicines would have to be approved by it.The PPMA president said the pharma industry had been going through crisis due to increase in prices of raw material.

He said a list of 160 medicines that the PPMA had provided to the government included medicines of blood-pressure, sugar and pain killers, which were commonly used by people. “We want to ensure availability of these medicines in the market, which will only be possible when the government shields the pharma industry from runaway inflation.”

Nagra dispelled the impression that the pharma business had huge profit margins. He said in January this year, the federal government had imposed 17% sales tax on pharma industry, which was taken back after the protests by the industry with the promise of reimbursing the amount received on this head. “However, this amount has not yet been reimbursed to the industry,” he regretted.

Nagra said that the mechanism to increase the prices of medicines was not simple as the government required the manufacturers’ audit reports, import invoices and numerous other documents for vetting before deciding on prices revisions. To a question that which country Pakistan gets most of its raw material for making medicines, Nagra said China was the largest exporter of inputs followed by India and European Union countries.

Credit: Independent News Pakistan-WealthPk