Drap denies increasing prices of life-saving drugs

ISLAMABAD: The Drug Regulatory Authority of Pakistan (Drap) has clarified that prices of medicine have not been increased by the government.

Talking to Geo News on Thursday, a senior official of the drug regulatory authority said the government has fixed the prices of 25 new medicines which were previously not registered and available in the country.

These newly registered medicines include cancer drugs as well as a new cold and flu medicine containing paracetamol and another salt that is different from simple paracetamol tablets and syrup available in the market.

Prices of all the existing and registered medicines have not been increased and they are being sold at the previously announced prices, the DRAP official announced.

Earlier in June this year, the Economic Coordination Committee (ECC) of the Cabinet had granted approval for increasing the prices of 49 medicines under Minimum Retail Price (MRP).

However, the government claimed that the prices of these 49 medicines were 24 to 77% less as compared to other regional countries, including India, Bangladesh, Nepal, and Sri Lanka.