‘Medicine pricing needs serious attention’

KARACHI: More than 86,000 medicines produced by pharmaceutical companies have been registered under the Track and Trace System, allowing consumers to scan products by mobile phone to check their authenticity and find out their prices, Federal Health Minister Mustafa Kamal said.

He said that pharmaceutical companies could also register their medicines and products online. A process that previously took years is now being completed within just 21 days.

Addressing the members of the Korangi Association of Trade and Industry (KATI) on Saturday, he said the Drug Regulatory Authority of Pakistan (DRAP) has been made fully transparent and digitalised.

Eight months had passed since DRAP’s certification procedures were shifted to a digital system, during which more than 5,000 cases had been processed, he said.

Mustafa Kamal said the issue of medicine pricing requires serious attention. The pharmaceutical industries seek an increase in medicine prices, but the matter is under consideration by the federal cabinet.

The issue has two dimensions as an increase in medicine prices will create additional financial difficulties for ordinary citizens, while keeping prices unchanged could lead to shortages of medicines for serious illnesses. Consequently, patients were sometimes forced to purchase the same medicines from the black market at three times their actual price.

Published in Dawn, November 1st, 2026