ISLAMABAD : Feb 9,2023;: The poverty hit people of Pakistan are going to go through yet another worse case scenario in coming days as the drug mafia has managed to hire services of at least two key federal ministers of Shahbaz Sharif cabinet to secure increase up to 350 % in the prices of 100 plus life- saving drugs .
Sources told NEWSMAN on Thursday that Finance minister , Ishaq Dar, has summoned a special meeting of the Economic Coordination Committee {ECC) on February 10 (Friday) to okay the increase in the prices of over 100 life – saving drugs .
Ishaq Dar has a history of having dealing with the drug manufacturers for some reasons better known to him . For his close ‘links’ , a Pakistan Pharma Manufacturers Association (PPMA) delegation had specially travelled to London last year for taking ‘guidance’ from Ishaq Dar to secure 15 % increase in the rates of life- saving drugs after having failed to get it done from federal Health Minister, Qadir Patel.
The PPMA delegation also had a meeting with Pakistan Muslim League Nawaz (PMLN) supremo , Mian Nawaz Sharif , in London to take his ‘blessings’ for the increase in the rates of life- saving drugs.
The drug manufacturers act like a powerful mafia in Pakistan . They have equally :good links’ with top leadership of PMLN, Pakistan People Party (PPP) and Pakistan Tehreek e Insaf (PTI).
In PMLN rule , the crooked pharma mafia operates through Ishaq Dar. In 2013 then Health minister , Sara Tarar, had played a role of a facilitator for the mafia of drug manufacturers.
Sara Tarar served pharma companies mafia as Health minister. She was a brain behind approval of CPI based policy to ensure undue financial gains for drug manufacturers’ mafia and get her share.
Ms Tarar helped drug mafia get approved CPI based policy from then prime minister, Nawaz Sharif’s federal cabinet in 2013.
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PTI’s two powerful women used the same CPI based policy to secure 17 increases from Imran Khan’s federal cabinet between 2018 to April 2022 when PTI lost the rule after losing in a no confidence move in April 2022.
In PPP era , PPMA had special ‘links’ with a powerful lady hailing from Sindh for getting desired benefits. In the last regime of PTI, the same mafia of pharma companies operated through Farah Gogi, a trustworthy friend of former first lady, Bushra Bibi.
Farah Gogi secured 17 increases in the prices of drugs in 3 and half years rule of ‘clean man:Imran Khan.
To understand working relationship between Ishaq Dar and pharma companies , one needs to go through two tales. Ishaq Dar served as a facilitator to secure a stay order for pharma companies mafia from Sindh High Court (SHC) in 2013 to enjoy 15 % increase in the drug prices . Ishaq Dar allegedly got his share from the pharma companies for this favour. He used a safe channel of the party fund to streamline the financial gains of the deal with pharma companies:. The stay granted by the Sindh High Court (SHC) lasted for full 5 years. After five years, a retired top judge of Supreme Court of Pakistan (SCP) moulded the same stay order to give financial benefits to his close relatives who are known tycoons of Pakistan’s pharma industry.
Ishaq Dar’s move to include the case of proposed increase in drug prices in the ECC agenda shows his ill-intentions in the case. In routine , any proposal for the increase in the rates of drug prices goes to the federal cabinet. But Ishaq Dar is deciding the issue which involves benefits of hundreds of billions to the pharma industry.
In fact ,ECC stamp for proposed increase in the rates of drug prices will pave way for approval of the case from the federal cabinet.
Since Ishaq Dar is a defecto prime minister of Pakistan and Shahbaz Sharif is a signing authority only, the clearance of the proposal by ECC will serve the purpose of the pharma mafia for jacking up rates of the life saving drugs. Ishaq Dar and someone other may get financial benefits for securing unbelievable increase in the rates of life saving drugs, but any such bomb will literally kill the patients and their families who may not be in a position to buy medicines to save lives of their dear ones .
