KARACHI, July 20: Whether or not the drugs, notably the life saving ones should be under the ambit of notorious General Sales Tax is a question being actively debated both in the media and in the private sector forums but despite loud whispering against its imposition the government is unmoved.

The government may have some compulsions to expand the sale tax network to drugs but what is not in line with the national health care is its extension as rule to all the sectors.

“The military setup is literally following the text book advice of the IMF”, one consumer complains “political governments will not do that as they have to go to their voters and make adjustments to suit their mandates.”

One wonders what will happen to the national health care if annual budgetary allocations ranging from 2.5 to 3 per cent are not supplemented by the foreign donors who jointly send medicines worth Rs50 to Rs55 billion each year, an analyst said.

No one could deny the fact that most of the life saving drugs have become out of the purchasing power of the general consumer after the levy of the general sales tax. Medicines for the heart and blood pressure patients, for instance, now appear to have assumed the role of forbidden fruit for the needy.

Even a low-priced Disperin, which was available at Rs3 to Rs4 for 10-tablets prior to the GST is now selling at Rs7 as the owners of the medical stores calculate 15 per cent sales tax according to their own mathematical perceptions.

The interesting feature of the whole episode is that both the consumer and the producer are unhappy with the new phenomenon for obvious reasons.

“After having effected 10 to 15-time increase in prices of some life saving drugs, producers lament the falling value of the rupee and massive spendings on research, while the consumer complain of his spending ability. Both may be right in their own way”, a dealer said.

In most of the countries including some underdeveloped ones, the drugs are generally exempted from any type of levies, not to speak of the general sales tax, in an effort to provide cheaper medicines for the sick as well poor.

“National health care remains on the top of agenda of all the welfare states allover the world, but in Pakistan it is one of the most neglected sectors after education”, most leading doctors commenting on the prevailing situation say. — MA