MY father is a cardiac patient and I have been frequently purchasing medicines on his behalf. I recently visited a pharmacy to purchase one of his routine medicines. It was not available in the market.

On inquiry, I found out that a number of pharmaceutical companies have simply stopped producing lifesaving medicines owing to the irrational pricing set by the government and regulators.

To make things worse, the Pakistan Pharmaceutical Manufacturers Association has also announced it would have no other option but to increase prices by next month if a decision was not made to provide relief to drug manufacturers.

This update is indeed alarming, if not tragic because in the entire debacle the voice of the main stakeholder – the patient – is completely neglected. Patients have nowhere to look up to as they are crushed under the burden of unavailability of medicines and unaffordable rates.

A programme by a foreign pharmaceutical company acts as some relief to the neglected patients. This programme is geared towards curbing the growing menace of non-communicable diseases in Pakistan. In order to make it sustainable and affordable, medicines are priced at only a dollar a month per treatment.

Although the current debate revolves around pricing of medicines and affordability, it is indeed appalling that an initiative like this which provides substantial savings to the government has not been launched as yet by the health authorities.

Muhammad Mansoor Abbas

Karachi

Published in Dawn, December 17th, 2018