Pricing delay raises shortage of medicine, counterfeiting risks
At the heart of the crisis, they said, was the prolonged delay in deciding the prices of essential medicines. More than two years after the Drug Regulatory Authority of Pakistan (Drap) recommended price revisions for 105 hardship-category medicines, the federal government has yet to approve the proposals. Drap’s drug pricing committee concluded that the rising costs of imported raw materials, energy, packaging, transportation, labour, financing and currency depreciation had made the production of many essential medicines commercially unviable.
- ▪At the heart of the crisis, they said, was the prolonged delay in deciding the prices of essential medicines.
- ▪More than two years after the Drug Regulatory Authority of Pakistan (Drap) recommended price revisions for 105 hardship-category medicines, the federal government has yet to approve the proposals.
- ▪Drap’s drug pricing committee concluded that the rising costs of imported raw materials, energy, packaging, transportation, labour, financing and currency depreciation had made the production of many essential medicines commercially unviabl
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Pricing delay raises shortage of medicine, counterfeiting risks Imran Ayub Published July 13, 2026 Updated July 13, 2026 07:53am 0 Illustration photo shows various medicine pills in their original packaging in Brussels, Belgium, on August 9, 2019. — Reuters/File Listen to article 1x 1.2x 1.5x comments Join our Whatsapp Channel Add Dawn as a trusted source • Federal cabinet yet to decide on proposals despite Drap recommending price revisions for 105 hardship-category medicines over two years ago• Prolonged shortages creating opportunities for illegal suppliers to fill the gap, chemists’ body warns KARACHI: The prolonged shortage of more than 100 essential medicines, including life-saving drugs for cancer, heart disease and other serious illnesses, has created space for counterfeit and…
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