Medicine Pricing in Focus as 86,000 Drugs Go Digital
More than 86,000 medicines produced by pharmaceutical companies have been registered under Pakistan’s Track and Trace System, Federal Health Minister Mustafa Kamal said on Saturday, as medicine pricing stays under consideration by the federal cabinet. The system lets consumers scan products by mobile phone to check their authenticity and find out their prices.
Kamal said pharmaceutical companies could also register their medicines and products online. A process that previously took years is now being completed within just 21 days, he said.
Addressing members of the Korangi Association of Trade and Industry (KATI) in Karachi on Saturday, he said the Drug Regulatory Authority of Pakistan (DRAP) has been made fully transparent and digitalised. Eight months had passed since DRAP’s certification procedures were shifted to a digital system, during which more than 5,000 cases had been processed, he said.
Medicine pricing: the decision before the cabinet
Kamal said the issue of medicine pricing requires serious attention. Pharmaceutical companies seek an increase in medicine prices, but the matter is under consideration by the federal cabinet.
The issue has two dimensions, he said. An increase in medicine prices will create additional financial difficulties for ordinary citizens. Keeping prices unchanged, on the other hand, could lead to shortages of medicines for serious illnesses. Patients were sometimes forced to purchase the same medicines from the black market at three times their actual price, he added.
Kamal suggested that the government should withdraw from direct price regulation and allow medicine prices, like those of other products, to be determined by the open market. That suggestion, if taken up, would mark a sharp change from the current system, in which the state sets or approves prices for many medicines.
The debate is not new. Feature Pakistan has reported on the drug pricing formula review in Drug Pricing Formula Review, and on counterfeit medicines in Sindh Lab Counterfeit Medicines in Karachi. The Track and Trace System sits between those two problems. It does not set prices, but it gives buyers a way to check whether a medicine is genuine and what it should cost.
What Track and Trace means for patients
For a patient at a pharmacy counter, the practical change is simple. A phone scan can confirm that a pack is registered, and can show its price. That check helps in three ways.
First, it makes it harder to sell a fake pack as genuine, because the scan will not match a registered product. Second, it lets a buyer spot overcharging on the spot, instead of finding out later. Third, it gives regulators a digital trail, from maker to seller, that paper records never provided.
The scale matters too. With more than 86,000 medicines registered, the system covers a large share of what pharmacies stock. Companies can register online, and the 21-day turnaround Kamal cited is a clear break from the years-long waits of the past. The Business Recorder reported that the prime minister had awarded DRAP for its performance in digitalisation.
The pricing dilemma, in plain terms
The pricing question facing the cabinet is a genuine dilemma, not a simple choice between cheap and costly medicines.
If prices rise, families already stretched by food, fuel and school costs will pay more at the pharmacy. For patients who need daily medicines for diabetes, blood pressure or heart disease, even a small rise adds up across a month. For cancer and other serious illnesses, where treatment is already costly, a rise can push care out of reach.
What to watch next
What is Pakistan’s Track and Trace System for medicines?
It is a digital system under which medicines are registered with barcodes, so consumers can scan a pack by mobile phone to check its authenticity and find out its price.
How many medicines are registered under the system?
Federal Health Minister Mustafa Kamal said more than 86,000 medicines produced by pharmaceutical companies have been registered under the Track and Trace System.
Why is medicine pricing under consideration by the cabinet?
Pharmaceutical companies seek an increase in medicine prices. Kamal said higher prices would burden ordinary citizens, while unchanged prices could cause shortages of medicines for serious illnesses, so the matter rests with the federal cabinet.
What did Kamal suggest about medicine prices?
Kamal suggested the government should withdraw from direct price regulation and allow medicine prices, like those of other products, to be determined by the open market.
