ISLAMABAD: The Drug Regulatory Authority of Pakistan (Drap) admitted on Thursday that medicine prices were increased in violation of its own policy.

The revelation came during a meeting of a National Assembly’s subcommittee on national health services (NHS) at Parliament House.

Drap officials gave the meeting a briefing on the registration of medicines, how to obtain licences for new medicines and the structure and financing of the authority. They also said that the laboratory testing and post-marketing surveillance of medicines are Drap’s responsibility.

However, MNA Ramesh Lal from the PPP told the officials he had been hearing this information for a long time.

“I want to know what has happened in the last year,” he said, adding: “As far as I am aware, during the last year the former minister and NHS secretary became the reason of irrecoverable loss to the health sector.”

“The situation has [worsened to the extent] that the poor cannot even imagine buying medicines,” he said.

One of the Drap officials then admitted that the prices of some medicines were increased by more than the limit permitted by drug pricing policy. But, he said, Special Assistant to the Prime Minister on NHS Dr Zafar Mirza has taken up the issue and had the prices decreased.

“Although it is true that the prices of medicines were increased, it is also a fact that the prices were decreased as well,” he said.

This April, then NHS minister Aamer Mehmood Kiani was removed and Dr Mirza appointed special assistant on health. There were rumours that Mr Kiani was removed because of the unprecedented increase in drug prices, but on one at the government level has confirmed this.

In May, Dr Mirza announced that the increase in medicine prices would not exceed 75pc. He said that although prices were increased by up to 400pc, Prime Minister Imran Khan directed the day he took charge – April 23 – that prices be decreased within 72 hours.

He said this led to deliberations and it was agreed that the maximum permitted increase would be 75pc.

Dr Mirza had said that the prices of 889 medicines were considered; the prices of 464 were increased and the prices of 395 were decreased. The rest remained the same.

Published in Dawn, November 1st, 2019