ISLAMABAD –The government’s drugs pricing policy was balanced and comprehensive and based on a transparent mechanism for fixation and price adjustment, said Saira Afzal Tarar, the state minister for national health services, regulations and coordination.
The drug pricing policy, sent to the Prime Minister’s Office by the Ministry of National Health Services (NHS), called for drug prices to remain frozen at their 2013 levels until June 2016, after which, the Consumer Price Index (CPI) shall be applied.
The minister said that it was for the first time in Pakistan that prices of medicines would gradually be reduced. She added that all the stakeholders were taken on-board while formulating the policy. Moreover, the policy would help increase availability of drugs at rational prices besides discouraging hoarding, she noted.
