Keep medicine prices at tolerable level: Minister to manufacturers

Health and Family Welfare Minister Zahid Maleque on Thursday urged the local players in the country’s pharmaceutical industry to keep medicine prices at a tolerable level.

“Prices of many food products went up after the announcement of the proposed national budget for fiscal 2022-23. Afterward, I hope it will not impact the medicine prices,” the health minister said after a meeting with the delegation of the Bangladesh Association of Pharmaceutical Industries (BAPI) held at his ministry office in Dhaka.

The health minister said that some food products saw a 30 percent to 40 percent hike recently, however, the price of medicine has not yet increased.

“We reached a consensus to keep the medicine prices at a tolerable level and ensure standard and quality of medicine,” he said, adding that the government will pay heed to the issues of the pharma industry so that it does not face any crisis in future.

After graduation to a developing country from a least developed one, the government will withdraw patents on some pharmaceutical items and the government has already held a meeting with the authorities concerned to deal with the evolving situation, he said.

The raw material prices of pharma products saw a bit hike in the draft national budget but the government is working in coordination with the manufacturing companies to keep the prices of medicines affordable, Maleque said.

Amid the increasing trend in the positivity rate of coronavirus, the health minister called upon all to take booster doses to stay safe from infection of the highly contagious virus.

The neighbouring country is experiencing an upward trend in infection rate and the same trend is being noticed in Bangladesh, said the health minister. “So, we must stay alert.”