ISLAMABAD, Oct 24: The health ministry has asked the Chief Executive Secretariat to protect old drug-pricing system instead of taking ad hoc initiatives that can damage the entire system itself.

A source told Dawn that the health ministry, in a letter to the Chief Executive Secretariat, had suggested that hasty steps should be avoided as these could go against public interest and support price escalation forces without sufficient justification.

Recently the Economic Coordination Committee (ECC) had authorized the Ministry of Industries to regulate pricing of drugs and allowed the health ministry to register new medicines.

The health ministry said nowhere in the world, drug-pricing was supervised by the industries ministry. However, it admitted that the main problem in the pharmaceutical sector was high prices of many essential drugs in the multinational companies (MNCs).

Instead of tackling the problem of high prices institutionally, the recent amendments of authorizing the industries ministry to regulate pricing would likely create problems for the consumers, the ministry added.

It stated that the question of adopting amendments in the Drugs Act 1976 had been confused due to the concurrent proceedings taking place in two different ministries.

Under the Rules of Business 1973, summaries pertaining to Drugs Act 1976, needed to be routed through the health ministry. Instead, the industries ministry has been examining different aspects of the pharmaceutical sector and processing its recommendations directly in different forums.

It stated that non-recourse to the Rules of Business had led to disarray in this sector and encouraged organized lobbies to push their “well-known agendas” by exploiting the situation — a situation which could destabilize the market — largely based on private sector manufacture and sale.

It had also been pointed out that the pharmaceutical sector was a concurrent subject under the Constitution and one-third of the drugs act pertained to the implementational activities of the provincial governments. Failure to consult the provincial governments before incorporating the amendments in the drug act was neither legally tenable nor administratively desirable.

It pointed out that the provincial governments had not been consulted and therefore a consensus had to be evolved.

About the decision of the ECC to authorize the industries ministry to regulate drug prices, it said the minutes of the meeting unfortunately were recorded inaccurately in which the decision pertaining to consulting the provincial governments were omitted without realizing the fact that non-consultation with provinces in statutory matters created administrative problems.

Moreover the takeover of price regulation by the Ministry of Industries was never decided during the meeting and therefore its announcement was an unprecedented move.

It has also mentioned about the appointment of a consultant in July 1, 2002 by the industries ministry to suggest amendments in Drugs Act 1976, under which the Rules of Business were to be administered by the health ministry. When the consultant submitted his report, the industries ministry set up a committee to study its recommendation, while the health ministry was advised in writing not to process any amendments without considering the recommendations of the consultant.

But, when the report was criticized by some stakeholders, the industries ministry modified its stance and clarified that the recommendations should not be considered as the opinion of the industries ministry.