Production of 60 percent essential medicines stopped: BAPI

Bangladesh Association of Pharmaceutical Industries (BAPI) has said that various pharmaceutical companies have stopped production of nearly 60 percent of the medicines in the list of 117 essential medicines of the country. Although production costs have been increasing continuously, it has not been possible to continue production in the face of losses as the prices of these medicines have not been adjusted for a long time, the association informed.

As a result, the supply of several listed essential medicines has decreased in the market. Not getting the necessary medicines, patients are having to buy comparatively higher-priced alternative medicines. This is also increasing people’s expenditure on treatment.

Leaders of the organisation informed these facts at an exchange of views meeting titled ‘Progress of the pharmaceutical industry: challenges and prospects’ held at the BAPI office in Tejgaon of the capital on Monday (August 24). At the meeting, various issues including modernisation of the list of essential medicines, reform of the existing structure of price fixation and increase in production costs due to gas and electricity crisis came up.

BAPI leaders said that at present the 1994 structure is being followed for fixing the prices of essential medicines. In the past 32 years the prices of these medicines have been adjusted only twice. Yet according to that structure the prices were supposed to be adjusted at an average rate of 8 percent per year. During this period almost all production costs including inflation, dollar exchange rate, workers’ wages, fuel and electricity prices have increased.

Vice-president of the association Mosaddek Hossain said that at the time of the 1994 drug policy 117 essential medicines were identified. Of these, 19 medicines have not been registered for production. Although initiatives were taken to ensure the supply of the remaining 98, at present production of many of these medicines has remained stopped as the production cost is higher than the selling price.

Former general secretary of the association and managing director of Delta Pharma Limited Dr Zakir Hossain said at the meeting that if the pharmaceutical industry is viewed only from the perspective of price control, production and new investment may be hindered in the long term. In his view, along with regularly updating the list of essential medicines on the basis of experts’ opinions, there should be scope for transparent, realistic and regular adjustment in price fixation.

On the other hand, general secretary of BAPI Muhammad Halimuzzaman informed that the gas and electricity crisis is further increasing production costs. Due to the absence of uninterrupted electricity, the factories are having to depend on generators, large UPS and alternative fuels. Due to the shortage of gas, diesel has to be used in some places even to run generators.