The government has no control over fixing fair prices of medicines in the country although it is committed to ensure quality drugs at affordable rates to people.
Sources said the price control committee of the government is dominated by different drug manufacturers' associations and there is hardly any meeting held to review tag prices and current market prices of medicines.
According to market information, prices of different essential drugs increased by at least 10 per cent during the last two years.
Though the Directorate General of Drug Administration (DGDA) had prepared a price list of 117 essential drugs in 1994, data has not been updated to assess level of increase in drug prices genetically, they added.
Officials said revision of the price against a drug is done based on the company's demand and its proposal.
They said the data is maintained in files genetically.
There are some differences in increase in prices of different drugs, a shop owner at a pharmacy in Shantinagar said. It can be claimed that the trend is always increasing.
He, however, said there are cases of increase in prices of medicines by even 100 to 200 times as there is virtually no step of the government to stop price manipulation by medicine suppliers and sometimes manufacturing companies.
DGDA Director Golam Kibria said the price control committee sits only when a company applies for revision of price of a specific essential drug on grounds like increase in cost of importing raw materials.
He said the committee finally takes a decision based on the sub-committee's report after reviewing all necessary information.
"Pricing committee does not sit unless there is an agenda," the Director told the FE at his office, saying that they never receive any complaint about price manipulation by any drug company or any market operator.
He said based on verbal information, the DG's office cannot take any step.
The FE correspondent sought price lists of essential drugs but was only provided a list of generic names having no prices mentioned.
Database of both the DGDA's office and the ministry has not yet been developed to get the official picture of drug prices.
A professor at the Pharmacy Department of Dhaka University, also a member of a DGDA committee, said there is hardly any scope for them to reject any report of the technical committee.
Dr Sitesh Chandra Basar, chairman of Pharmacy Department, said though prices of different essential and non-essential medicines are lower than that of the international market due to the government's control on price, there should be discipline in fixation of fair price.
He, however, emphasised quality, focusing on criteria of importing raw materials.
The chairman said the government should make people aware of use of different ingredients for high-quality drugs so that companies cannot misguide them on specific medicines with higher prices.
smunima@yahoo.com
No control over drug prices as regulator loses bite
Munima Sultana | Published: July 04, 2016 00:00:00 | Updated: February 01, 2018 00:00:00
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