E-drug: Proposed deregulation policy on pharmaceuticals
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[Azhar, I think searching our archives will give some replies to these
questions. However, I do hope E-druggers will take time to respond as well.
Unfortunately this is holiday season for many. May be some WHO publications
can be recommeded? There is one on Europe that could be of interest:
Jacobzone, S. Pharmaceutical policies in OECD countries: reconciling social
and industrial goals. Labour market and social policy � occasional papers
number 40. OECD, Paris, 2000.
http://www.olis.oecd.org/olis/2000doc.nsf/8d00615172fd2a63c125685d005300b5/c
125685b0057c558c12568c400331a1e/$FILE/00075948.PDF or
http://dcc2.bumc.bu.edu/richardl/ih820/Resource_materials/oecd.pdf. NB long
URLs, must be repaired. KM]
Dear E-Druggers,
In Pakistan there is a strong move for the deregulation of Pharmaceutical
Sector. It is driven by the Ministry of Industries and Production and fully
loaded with the interests of the pharmaceutical industry. TheNetwork for
Consumer Protection is strongly of the view that if this policy gets
implemented, it
will grind down the affordability, availability, quality, rational use and
safety of pharmaceutical products in the country.
This new policy proposes that " issues pertaining to price, import, export,
market operations impacting supply and demand and trademarks will be
addressed
in the Ministry of Industries and Production". Ministry of Health will focus
exclusively on issues pertaining to drug registration, medicine efficacy,
safety, quality, stability, manufacturing facilities, standards and storage
as
per CGMP.At the moment Ministry of Health is responsible for all the above.
Prices, retail margins of chemists, import and export, marketing and
advertisement of pharmaceutical products will also be decontrolled according
to
this policy.
We would like to ask our friends at E-Drug the following questions and if
possible they can direct us to available literature on the issue.
Q. 1 What is the role of Ministry of Industries and Production in the
regulation of Pharmaceutical sectors in their respective countries?
Q.2 What are the direct and indirect mechanisms for drug price controls?
Q.3 Are chemists and distributors margins (retailer discounts) fixed or
mutually
agreed between manufacturer and retailer?
Q.4 How is drug registration done in your country?
An early response will be highly appreciated.
Azhar Hussain
Project Coordinator Pharmaceuticals
TheNetwork for Consumer Protection
40-A, Ramzan Plaza, G-9 Markaz
Islamabad
Pakistan.
Tel:00-92-51-2261085
Fax:00-92-51-2262495
azhar@thenetwork.org.pk
[Affiliation added by moderator]
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