Prices of medicines in Karachi are out of reach of poor patients, prices of medicines were increased 3 to 4 times last year.
The prices of daily medicines including heart diseases, colds, depression, multivitamins, diabetes and anti-allergy have increased by more than 50% in 2024 compared to 2023. Instead of daily consumption, they are eating at intervals of one or two days.
A total of 900 drug formulations are registered in Pakistan, among them 400 formulations are life-saving (Essential) and 500 formulations (Non-Essential) are registered. Prices of non-essential medicines have been de-controlled while essential medicines have been allowed to increase by up to 7% per annum.
At present, there is a shortage of essential injections imported from foreign countries in the market. There is no tax on allopathic medicines while 18% general sales tax (GST) has been imposed on alternative medicines from 2024.
Pakistan Chemist and Drug Association Secretary General Asim Jameel Siddiqui told The Express Tribune that due to inflation and dollar appreciation, the prices of most medicines have increased by more than 50 percent in 2024 compared to 2023 and this increase is non- Essential medicines have more air.
He said that according to the list issued by the World Health Organization, 400 formulations of medicines in Pakistan are included in the list of essential and 500 formulations are included in the list of non-essential and these formulations are registered with the federal government. The prices of non-essential medicines have increased after the federal government de-controlled them, while essential medicines are allowed to increase by 7 percent per annum.
He said that the shortage of various vaccines, including various medicines, has continued, while their prices have also increased. The prices of multinational pharma companies are higher than local pharma companies. He said that after decontrolling non-essential drugs, the pharma companies have automatically increased the prices of the drugs and it is true that the drugs are getting out of the reach of common patients.
Asim Jameel Siddiqui said that there is no general sales tax on allopathic medicines by the government, while 18% general sales tax has been imposed on alternative medicines from 2024. He said that the price of Pheniramine Maleate injection was Rs 432 in April 2024 but the company increased the price of this injection again to Rs 1500 in August 2024 three months later. The price of the drug used in multivitamins which was Rs 224 in April 2024 was reduced to Rs 281 in June 2024 and Rs 351 in October 2024.
He said that similarly the price of Metoprmidrizinet Capsule was Rs 330 in 2024 but its price was increased to Rs 665 in 2024. Similarly, the drug Prochlorperazine Maleate was priced at Rs 312 in February 2024, but its price was increased to Rs 390 in April 2024 and Rs 900 in September 2024. The price of one cough syrup was Rs 89, but in September 2024, the price of this syrup was increased to Rs 130.
Similarly, the price of Myconazol ointment used for mouth ulcers was Rs 215 in 2024, but its price was increased to Rs 588 in 2024 itself.
According to the research report, the prices of most medicines have been increased three times in a year due to which poor patients have reduced the use of medicines. has done
Zubair Wahab of Wholesale Medicines Market said that last year there is a continuous unannounced increase in the prices of medicines, every 15 days last year the prices of various medicines have increased terribly and there are many medicines whose prices are one 3 has increased three times during the month. He further informed that every medicine packet has increased by Rs 300 to Rs 400, the price of some medicines has increased significantly by 50 to 75 percent.
Zubair Wahab said that since 2024, after the continuous increase in the prices of medicines, the prices have doubled, no organization is going to ask about the additional prices of medicines. He said that the prices of medicines used in cold, flu, fever and allergy are continuously increasing because the demand for these medicines increases abnormally in cold weather.
He said that most of the local pharmas are automatically increasing the prices, the price of a packet of Iboprofen sold in the market under the generic name was Rs 1063 in May 2024, while the price of this drug was increased to Rs 1170 in July 2024 and September In 2024, the price of the same drug was increased for the third time to Rs 1276. Thus only one drug was increased three times over a period of 5 months.
Javed, an employee working in a government institution, said that he has been using blood pressure medicine for a year, the price of a medicine has increased by 300 rupees at different times since last year. He said that in the same way, due to the increase in the prices of medicines used for other diseases in my house, instead of using it daily, I use medicine every two days due to which my blood pressure is not normal. Daily routines and office work are severely affected due to non-adherence to blood pressure medication after increasing blood pressure medication.
Ghulam Rasool, a patient suffering from heart diseases, said that he has other diseases including high blood pressure, heart disease and diabetes and the medicines used for these diseases are becoming expensive day by day, due to which these medicines are not available for me. It has become more difficult to buy things that are very important to my life. He said that due to the high cost of medicines, I cannot afford to use the dosage recommended by the doctors, so I am forced to take a break from taking medicines and due to limited resources, I risk my life. I have been
He requested the government to take steps to reduce the cost of life saving medicines which are beyond the purchasing power of low income patients. Ghulam Rasool said that more than half of my salary is used for the purchase of medicines and treatment and medical tests due to which I am facing severe difficulties in meeting the daily expenses of the house.
