People are deprived of benefits from the government’s drug price control as most of these medicines are unavailable in the market. According to chemist and druggist sources, maximum 30 per cent of 153 price controlled items are being manufactured now.
A competent source said as physicians usually prefer prescribing new generation price decontrolled products, people are bound to buy these costly modern drugs.
Shafiqul Islam, assistant director of the Directorate General of Drugs Administration (DGDA), said considering the availability of modern drugs at affordable prices, the government in a draft review has increased the number of listed drugs to 209 from 153.
“But it has not been finalised yet. And there is no move in the government machinery,” he added.
Abdul Hai, vice president of the Bangladesh Chemist and Druggist Association (BCDA), said currently patients are not getting benefit from the controlled price drugs as the manufacturers are reluctant to produce them.
“A good number of modern drugs need to be listed. Although there is a draft list, it is not effective.”
As a result, he said, most of the people cannot afford decontrolled costly drugs which are widely being prescribed by the physicians due to their usefulness and effectiveness.
Mr Hai said maximum 30 per cent of the 153 price controlled drugs are available in the market and their prices are higher than the rates fixed by the government.
Md Shafiuzzaman, secretary of Bangladesh Association of Pharmaceuticals Industry, said local companies are making many new generation drugs whose patents have not expired yet.
He said as the modern drugs are preferred by the doctors and their prices are not being controlled, it is an opportunity for the manufacturers to produce them and earn profits.
Many of the price controlled drugs on the list are not being used now and their demand in the market is very low, Mr Shafiuzzaman said.
Another DGDA official said the government is working on finalising the draft list to make some modern drugs available to most of the people.
It depends on the physicians to prescribe the drugs whose prices are still being controlled, he said, adding that they (physicians) should not be motivated by the manufacturers.
At present, more than 1,400 generics with more than 22,000 brand names are being manufactured in the country. Many of them invented lately are being used as alternative to the price controlled items due to their high effectiveness.
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