ISLAMABAD: As prices of medicines have been rapidly increasing in the country, a former deputy director of the Drug Regulatory Authority of Pakistan (Drap) has urged Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif to play his role for regulating prices of medicines.

In a letter available with Dawn, Dr Muhammad Aleem Akhter said the prices of medicines were deregulated against public and national interest.

He said that the Drap Act, 2012, clearly empowers the authority to fix prices of all drugs and medicines and this issue was communicated to the PM’s office through a letter dated Oct 20, 2024, but no action was taken.

On the other hand, he said, the rising cost of medicines was making healthcare unaffordable for many, leading to increasing anger against the government and the state.

For the last several decades, he said, there was a cap on maximum retail prices (MRPs) due to which pharmaceutical companies were bound to keep prices equal or lower than the prices approved by the federal cabinet.

These companies had to apply to Drap for any increase in prices and Drap used to send the request to the federal cabinet for approval, but the previous caretaker government, headed by Anwarul Haq Kakar, removed the cap on MRPs of non-essential drugs and that allowed pharmaceutical companies to fix the prices on their own.

The health ministry had claimed that the decision was made to promote competition among companies and that it will reduce prices of non-essential medicines, but that did not happen.

He appealed to the prime minister to intervene in the matter and provide relief to the masses.

Published in Dawn, April 28th, 2025