ISLAMABAD: The Economic Coordination Committee (ECC) in its meeting on Friday (today) may allow increase in prices of 124 medicines including fever relief pills and syrup Paracetamol.

It may also allow cut in prices of 20 medicines and fix maximum retail price (MRP) of 18 new medicines.

According to a document, available with Dawn, Minister for Finance and Revenue Ishaq Dar will chair the meeting of ECC which will be held in the Cabinet Room, Prime Minister’s Office, Islamabad.

Document shows that increase in MRP of Paracetamol will also be considered. The medicine has been running short since the beginning of the Covid-19 pandemic in 2020 and situation further worsened after floods last year.

Although the govt had increased the price of medicine last year, medicine still remains short.

Moreover approval will be sought from the ECC to increase the MRP of 119 drugs under hardship category as recommended by Drug Pricing Committee (DPC) in its 53rd meeting. Similarly approval will be sought for increasing the prices of four more drugs, under same category, as Drug Pricing Committeehad suggested increasing the price in 52nd meeting.

Under the hardship category, companies claim that it has become unviable for them to produce medicine within MRP or in other wards they claim that the cost of manufacturing has increased from cost of MRP.

The document further showed that ECC will also fix the MRP of 18 new drugs as matter has been recommended by the Drug Pricing Committeein its 53rd meeting held on December 29 last year.

Another agenda item is to reduce the MRP of 20 drugs as recommended by the pricing committee.

An official of the Ministry of National Health Services (NHS), requesting not to be quoted, said medicines for the treatment of typhoid, malaria, depression, fever, kidney diseases, women infertility, tuberculosis, ulcer, etc., had been recommended for price increase.

“It is a fact that some active pharmaceutical ingredients (APIs) have become expensive because of devaluation of rupee. The Drug Regulatory Authority of Pakistan (Drap) tries its best to keep the prices under control. However whenever a company applies price increase, under hardship category, the price increase case is reviewed in detail ,” he said.

Spokesperson for NHS Sajid Shah, while talking to Dawn, said that all price increase cases were old and it has been decided to initially send them to ECC and if they were approved, they would be sent to the Federal Cabinet.

“Prices will be increased after the approval of the federal cabinet,” he said.

Published in Dawn, February 10th, 2023