Buyers are confused by the price of medicines
Consumers are getting fed up with the unbridled prices of life-saving medicines. Consumers complain that the prices of some medicines have more than doubled in the last one and a half years. Due to the lack of effective supervision, extreme arbitrariness is going on in the country’s pharmaceutical trade. Many pharmacies are charging higher prices in line with pharmaceutical companies. Consumers feel that strict monitoring by the regulatory agency, the Department of Drug Administration, is needed to rein in the increase in drug prices at the company and pharmacy levels. Their grievance is that if the prices of goods increase, food can be cut. But there is no cut in the case of life-saving medicines. The entire dose has to be finished. Even if you eat less food, the medicine cannot be omitted. If the medicine is tampered with, the level of illness increases. Meanwhile, the High Court has ruled that the government will determine the price of life-saving medicines necessary for the health protection of the people. In the ruling, the court said that the appropriate authority will determine the price and publish it in the gazette. The High Court bench comprising Justice Md. Rezaul Hasan and Justice Biswajit Debnath recently gave this ruling after the final hearing of a writ filed seven years ago.
The increase in the price of medicines is further increasing the medical expenses of patients. Buyers say that by increasing the price of food products, you can cut down on food, but by increasing the price of medicines, you cannot eat less. There is no scope for such an unbridled increase in the price of medicines anywhere in the neighboring countries. In Bangladesh, the price of medicines is increasing year by year due to weak management. The pharmaceutical industry is blaming the increase in the value of the dollar and the increase in the price of raw materials in the international market as the reasons for the increase in the price of medicines. In addition, the companies have increased the price of medicines to adjust the expenses of thousands of professionals in the name of doctors’ houses, cars, foreign travel, cash payments and medical representatives. In the past one year, prices have been increased by 20-66 percent depending on the type. But the impact of increasing the price of medicines at the pharmacy level is much greater. Currently, there are 310 pharmaceutical manufacturing companies in the country. Bangladeshi medicines, which have gained a reputation in the global market, meet 98 percent of the country’s needs and are exported to 157 countries. However, there is no effective control in the country itself.
Sector stakeholders said that the country’s pharmaceutical market is worth about 30-35 thousand crore taka. The companies produce 35,290 brands of medicines, including 4,180 generics. Of these, the prices of 117 generic medicines for primary healthcare are directly controlled by the Department of Drug Administration. The rest are fixed by the drug companies and sent to the drug administration for approval, including VAT. The price fixing committee checks and increases the prices. The aggressive marketing of the drug companies also affects the price of medicines. Citing the increase in the price of raw materials, each drug company has increased the price of most medicines. Zakir Hossain Rony, director of the Bangladesh Chemists and Druggists Association based in Mitford, Old Dhaka, said, “When customers come to buy medicines, they ask us why the price is high? But the pharmacy owners did not increase the price, the company did. If the MRP rate is increased, we have nothing to do. The drug administration should keep the market and consumers in mind, along with everything else, when increasing the price of medicines.”
The latest global report by the World Health Organization says that 24 percent of people in Bangladesh are facing a crisis when it comes to meeting medical expenses. More than 6.2 million people are falling below the poverty line every year just for medical treatment. 16 percent of households (families that eat one meal a day) remain without treatment.
According to the ‘Bangladesh National Health Accounts’ published by the Health Economics Unit of the Ministry of Health and Planning of Bangladesh, in 2020, about 69 percent of the country’s total health expenditure has to be spent from the pockets of individuals, which is about 54 thousand crores in terms of taka. And 64.6 percent of this health expenditure is spent on buying medicines, which is about 36 thousand crores in terms of taka. In total, crores of people in the country are spending money on buying medicines.
Professor and researcher of the Department of Microbiology at Jahangirnagar University, Dr. Md. Anwar Khasru Parvez said, ‘The country’s top six companies have increased the prices of 234 life-saving medicines they produce by 10 to 50 percent. There are allegations that many medicines are being sold in the market at prices higher than the fixed prices. In this case too, the companies have cited the Russia-Ukraine war, increase in raw material prices in the world market, dollar crisis, LC complications, supply problems including increase in gas and electricity prices, increase in packaging, transportation, marketing costs, etc. as excuses for increasing prices. He further said, “If the price is suddenly increased, many patients will not be able to buy medicines. And not completing the dose can have serious effects on the body. The drug administration has no initiative to control prices.”
Prices of all medicines have increased: A search of various pharmacies in the capital Dhaka revealed that the prices of all types of medicines have increased in the last one and a half years. Azithromycin has gone from 35 taka to 40 taka per piece. The price of vitamin B1, B6, B12 has been increased in two steps from 7 taka to 10 taka. The price of esomeprazole has gone from 5 taka to 7 taka per piece. The price of losartan potassium 50 mg has gone from 8 taka to 10 taka per piece. The price of 10 pieces of paracetamol 500 mg has gone from 8 taka to 12 taka. The price of 10 pieces of paracetamol 665 mg has increased from 15 to 20 taka. The price of paracetamol syrup has increased from 20 to 35 taka. The price of bromazepam 3 mg has increased from 5 taka to 7 taka. Earlier, it cost 50 taka to buy 10 pieces, now it costs 70 taka. The price of 1 sheet of aspirin 75 mg, which used to cost 5 taka, is now 8 taka. In the past one year, there have been many cases of gastric, antibiotic, diabetes, etc.
