Prices of different life-saving medicines continue to show alarming hikes, a matter of serious concern, and forcing the lower income general patients away from essential drugs. The prices of many drugs are logically expected to remain within the buying capacity of the common patients as the National Board of Revenue (NBR) has granted VAT exemption on the raw material import for active pharmaceutical ingredients (API) and reagents for six years till 2025. But such exemption has no bearing on the prices of drugs in the market as the drug companies are still raising prices for brand-name prescription medicines.
People, especially the poor, are facing serious difficulties to buy medicines for financial reasons. Sufferings of many patients have already intensified as they are not capable of buying medicines. As a result, people who are suffering from various diseases, including deadly ailments, are failing to recover from diseases for want of medicines. On the other hand, a section of medicine traders and shopkeepers is exploiting the situation and charging extra prices for the medicines for higher profit, sources said.
Pharmaceutical entrepreneurs, however, claimed that the prices of drugs in Bangladesh are lower than those in other countries. Due to the increase in the prices of raw materials, the prices of medicines have gone up. The Department of Drug Administration has said that the government has nothing to do with the price hike.
Pharmaceutical sector experts believe that the government has to intervene to control the pricing system. In order to achieve the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) the cost of medicines must be reduced. In the past five years, tax has been exempted from importing more than 2,000 raw materials for the production of various drugs, including antibiotics, anti-cancer drugs and insulin. Tariffs on some of these raw materials have been completely exempted while tariffs have been reduced on some others.
Anwar Hossain, manager of Laz Pharma, a renowned drug selling company, said the price of almost every item has increased by 30 to 50 percent in over the past five years. Again, the prices of some drugs have doubled. SM Shafiuzzaman, secretary general of the Bangladesh Pharmaceutical Industry Association, said that the drug prices are lower in Bangladesh compared to those in other countries. Apart from this, due to the increase in the prices of raw materials, the cost of production of drugs has risen more than ever before. The cost of the drug is determined in line with the production cost.
Dollar price is increasing daily. Imported raw materials are being bought with at increased dollar value. As a result, there is no option but to increase the prices of the drugs, he added. Public Health Specialist and country's first drug policy committee member, Dr Zafarullah Chowdhury said, when someone falls into sickness, he cannot live without taking medicines. Mentioning the cost of drug production he said, the production cost of a drug of omeprazole group that is used in the relief from gastric costs 60 paisa. But it is being sold at Tk 5. All drugs are being sold at higher prices.
An anarchic situation with regard to prices of drugs has been prevailing in the medicine market since years. The government has to take the matter seriously. Public health cannot be ignored in order to protect the interests of certain drug company owners. Prices of medicines must be brought to the buying capacity level of the common people.
Executive Director of a private research firm and former International Monetary Fund (IMF) officer, Ahsan H Mansur said, because of the tariff exemption, many pharmaceutical industries have been set up in the country and the market has also been competitive. However, the government should be more careful in regulating prices.
"A pricing committee has to be formed to control the drug market," said professor ABM Farooq of the Department of Pharmaceutical Technology at Dhaka University. They will review and fix the prices, he added. Professor Farooq also added, otherwise, common people will not be benefitted. Stating that the government has nothing to do with the raising of prices of medicines, the director general said that only the prices of essential medicines have been fixed.
However, he further said, according to the law, companies that produce a certain amount of essential drugs have the opportunity to determine the value of other drugs. Companies must have to notify the Department of Drug Administration when they raise prices.
