ISLAMABAD: Transparency International Pakistan (TIP) has called on the federal government to strictly enforce the generic medicines policy, stressing its importance in curbing unnecessary healthcare expenditures and safeguarding public interest.
In an official letter to Federal Minister for National Health Services, Syed Mustafa Kamal, TIP underscored the alarming price gap between branded and generic medicines, which it claims results in billions of rupees in annual losses to both the national treasury and ordinary citizens.
TIP also criticized the lack of implementation of the 2021 directive issued by the Drug Regulatory Authority of Pakistan (DRAP), which instructed medical practitioners to prescribe medicines by their generic names rather than brand names. The failure to enforce this regulation, TIP noted, hampers transparency and keeps essential medications out of reach for many due to inflated prices.
The letter mentions the difference in drug prices, where some branded drug prices are three to four thousand percent higher than their generous alternatives.
In the comparative review of 300 mg of aspirin pills, prices were received from Rs 47 to Rs 300, while some brands sold the same medicine five times expensive.
There was also a huge difference between the fixed prices of the Punjab government and the market rate. For example, Generic 0 mg is available at Rs 3.07 at the Punjab government rate, while the same drug brand is being sold for Rs 93 (which is 3,29 % higher).
Similarly, the generous price of 20 mg is Rs 1.70, while the branded medicine is Rs 67.85 (which is 3,991 % higher).
The implementation of the generic policy can reduce the medical spending of the public by up to 90 %.
Transparency International Pakistan has emphasized that treatment will be cheaper for low -income classes than generic drugs, equal treatment between social groups will be possible, prices will be low and local pharmaceutical industry innovation will be encouraged. –
The TIP has called on the Health Minister to implement the Generic prescription policy in the public and private sectors, adopt a low -cost purchase methods for the purchase of public medicines and investigate the non -compliance of the existing orders.
