KARACHI: Rejecting the recent drug price hike, Pasban Democratic Party (PDP) Chairman Altaf Shakoor has said though it will bring a windfall for
the exploitative pharmaceutical industry, the already burdened poor will be decimated by this hike.
He says millions of poor families have already been deprived of proper healthcare facilities while the overall disease burden in society is on the rise.
Mr Shakoor alleges the government is safeguarding the vested interests of the pharma mafia at the cost of citizens.
He argues that how the poor families, who are already finding it hard to make both ends meet, will be able to purchase costly medicines in case of facing any health issue.
The PDP head says the pharma mafia is already charging exorbitant prices for their products, questioning the MRPs of medicines, when there are fixed prices of all other commodities, terming it a shameful exploitation of the consumers.
He lamented the marketing of branded drugs, despite frequent demand by the medical community for sale of medicines with their generic names, saying it is yet another tool of exploitation of consumers.
Shakoor demanded the government to control the “unbridled pharmaceutical mafia” which he says is looting patients with both hands as the regulatory bodies look the other way.
He called for a mechanism for the protection of consumer rights of patients in Pakistan and an effective check on the pharma industry.
He also demanded immediate reduction in the prices of all essential medicines to facilitate the patients, besides improvement in the condition of government hospitals that have become “dens of corruption and neglect”.
He also stressed the need to overhaul the medical education system and setting up teaching hospitals at the district level.
He sought free emergency rooms in every nook and corner of the country to provide immediate help to the ailing people.
