ISLAMABAD: The Pakistan Tehreek -e -Insaf (PTI) government has revised upward the prices of essential lifesaving drugs up to 17 % .
The Drug Regulatory Authority of Pakistan (DRAP) issued a formal notification in back date on September 10, 2021.
This is 14th imcrease in the prices of essential lifesaving drugs in PTI rule of over three years
The drug mafia is enjoying full liberty in PTI rule. Since 2018, when PTI came into power, the rates of medicines have been increased by 500 % . Its a new record of the increase in the prices of drugs in Pakistan’s history.
In the past, the respective governments had been very sensitive to the issue of the prices of the lifesaving drugs as they directly hit the patients and their families in difficult times. But Imran rule not only gave a free hand to drug mafia to keep creating shortage of medicines and sell drugs in black market at will, besides accepting its long outstanding demand to link the formula for the increase in the drug prices with the Consumer Price Index (CPI).
Can you believe that any responsible government can go for any such decision to link the formula for the increase in lifesaving drugs prices with CPI.? The approval of pharma mafia’s long outstanding demand of CPI based policy has literally made drug costing system of DRAP hostage to drug mafia. DRAP, instead of resisting uncalled for demands of drug mafia for repeated increase in the rates of medicines,is preferring to become a party to the mafia to share its percentage in ill-gotton money being grabbed by drug mafia through blackmarketing of lifesaving drugs.
DRAP is acting like a den of drug mafia. It has no permanent Chief Executive Officer (CEO) . Asim Rauf- who lacks moral ground to protect interest of the masses as his promotional stands declared illegal by a high level committee of the Health ministry, . Despite having declared a cheater by the probe committee,, Asim Rauf is running DRAP on look after basis.
Mahar Noor , president pharmacists lawyers forum, called Asim Rauf a shareholder of Pakistan’s powerful drug mafia. He said the PTI government policy of allowing upward revision in the prices of lifesaving drugs was unbelieveble. He said ” DRAP look after CEO Asim Rauf was a frontman of the drug mafia operating at the backend to get repeated imcrease in the prices of drugs”.