ISLAMABAD: Ministry of National Health Services has finally decided to move against the alleged alliance of doctors and companies and safeguard the interests of patients.

“During current week we had invited all the stakeholders in the ministry and evolved a consensus that interests of the patients would be watched. Fortunately, representatives of companies were also of the view that they should take care of patients rather than of profit,” the ministry’s media coordinator Sajid Shah told Dawn.

He said representatives of the Drug Regulatory Authority of Pakistan were also directed to look into the prices of drugs and ensure that no company sells drugs at inflated rates.

Meanwhile, Special Assistant to the Prime Minister on Health Dr Zafar Mirza tweeted that he held a brainstorming meeting to develop a strategy to address an ‘unholy’ alliance between the medical professionals and pharma industry which is working through highly unethical practices at the cost of patients resulting in high prices and irrational use of medicines.

“After a very enlightened discussion, the stakeholders, including industry representatives, will soon be developing a plan of action to check unethical marketing of medicines,” his another tweet states.

The debate on unethical marketing was started when a representative of pharmaceutical company in Punjab had gifted a mobile phone to a medical professional on instalments with a view to enticing him to prescribe his company’s medicines. However, later he could not pay the instalments and finally lost his life after he was beaten by the persons who had given him the phone.

Mr Shah expressed the hope that things would be settled down soon as not only ministry was sincere in reducing prices of the medicines but pharmaceutical companies were also ready to do so.

Published in Dawn, September 19th, 2019