ISLAMABAD: The ministry of national health services finally fixed the price of the hepatitis ‘C’ drug on Thursday.
Within two to three weeks, the 28-tablet strip of the locally-manufactured sofosbuvir will be available for Rs5,868, enabling the patients to get rid of the disease after a six-month treatment at a cost of about Rs35,200.
Minister for health Saira Afzal Tarar told a press conference on Thursday that though the ministry faced criticism for the delay in the registration of the drug, it had been able to come up with an affordable price.
“The Drug Regulatory Authority of Pakistan (Drap) has fixed the price at Rs5,868 for 28 tablets. As many as 31 companies had sought permission for the manufacturing of the drug and applications of nine of them were approved,” she said.
The minister said Drap had also allowed a local company for manufacturing raw material for the drug, adding Pakistan had become the fifth raw material producing country.
Dr Kamran Qureshi, a postgraduate in pharmaceutical medicine, told Dawn that the companies earlier demanding Rs26,600 for the 28 tablets were trying to make profits.
Mohammad Usman, the owner of a company, told Dawn that the prices of raw material had further reduced in the international market and now it was possible to sell the hepatitis medicine even at around Rs2,000.
“Hepatitis is the disease of the poor and we don’t know why the ministry of health is not interested in giving relief to the patients,” he said.
The chief executive officer of Drap, Dr Mohammad Aslam, said prices of raw material in different countries were checked before fixing the price of the drug.
Published in Dawn, February 12th, 2016
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