ISLAMABAD: The government has decided to establish a new body to take over the responsibility of setting drug prices, a task previously handled by the Drug Regulatory Authority of Pakistan (Drap).
This decision aligns with the government’s ongoing reforms in the health sector and efforts to streamline the federal health ministry, according to The News.
Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif directed the formation of this separate pricing body, with Law and Justice Minister Azam Nazeer Tarar leading the committee responsible for developing a detailed proposal.
An official from the Ministry of National Health Services, Regulations, and Coordination (NHS, R&C) informed the publication that following the caretaker government’s deregulation of non-essential medicine prices, the current administration has decided to also relieve Drap of its role in setting prices for essential medicines.
“A new federal-level body will handle this task,” the official stated.
Currently, Drap regulates the prices of around 500 essential medicines based on the World Health Organisation’s latest list. The new body will assume this responsibility.
The official mentioned that two proposals were initially considered: one to create an independent regulatory body for price-setting, and the other to establish an independent board of experts from various sectors to determine medicine prices.
The official also emphasized that several essential medicines, including the Anti Rabies Vaccine (ARV), are currently in short supply due to delays in price adjustments to accommodate manufacturers and importers. For instance, the price adjustment for the ARV produced by NIH Islamabad has been pending for months, leading to a nationwide shortage.
