Delay in hardship medicine price approval fuels shortages of life-saving drugs

More than two years after drug pricing regulators recommended price revisions for 105 hardship-category medicines, the federal government has yet to approve the proposals, resulting in production constraints and shortages of several essential and life-saving medicines, Business Recorder reported, citing pharmaceutical industry sources.

The prolonged delay has led to the unavailability or critical shortage of medicines used to treat cancer, heart disease, glaucoma and other serious medical conditions. 

Medicines reported to be in short supply include oral morphine capsules (10mg and 30mg) for severe cancer pain, streptokinase injections used to treat heart attacks, chemotherapy drugs such as cisplatin, carboplatin and doxorubicin, pediatric digoxin liquid, pilocarpine eye drops, the yellow fever vaccine, folic acid tablets and several immunoglobulin products, industry representatives said.

Abdul Samad Buddani, Chairman of the Pakistan Chemists and Druggists Association (PCDA), said the continued shortage of genuine medicines was increasing the risk of counterfeit and substandard drugs entering the market.

"When authentic medicines disappear from the market, patients become desperate and often turn to unreliable sources. That increases the risk of counterfeit and substandard medicines entering the supply chain, particularly expensive cancer medicines and other life-saving drugs," he said.

Buddani said successive governments had failed to act on the pricing committee's recommendations for hardship-category medicines.

The pharma association urged the federal government to immediately approve DRAP's recommendations for all 105 hardship-category medicines to enable manufacturers to resume production and restore supplies.