Ensure affordable medicines, sustainable supply: speakers

Keeping medicine prices as low as possible cannot be the sole objective of drug policy; essential medicines must remain affordable for patients while manufacturers can sustainably produce and supply quality drugs, experts said at a policy dialogue yesterday.

They made the remarks at the National Policy Dialogue, organised by the Public Integrity Network for Evidence and Transparency at the CIRDAP Auditorium.

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Presenting the keynote paper, Prof Syed Abdul Hamid of Dhaka University’s Institute of Health Economics said affordability and pharmaceutical industry sustainability are not conflicting objectives.

“The goal of drug policy should not be to set the lowest possible price; rather, it should be to establish a sustainable price that patients can afford while enabling manufacturers to sustainably produce quality medicines,” he said.

Prof Hamid said price reductions alone cannot ensure affordable healthcare, adding that irrational medicine use, non-prescription sales, shortages in public facilities and inadequate financial protection must also be addressed.

Experts called for a transparent and predictable pricing system with regular reviews, an evidence-based Essential Medicines List and stronger financial protection.

Dhaka University Prof Emeritus Chowdhury Mahmood Hasan said medicine prices should allow quality production, while the government should subsidise essential medicines to keep them affordable.

WHO Representative Dr Mamunur Rahman Malik, lawyer Shishir Monir and Prof Selim Reza also spoke.

Bangladesh has used a cost-plus pricing formula since 1994 to regulate 117 essential medicines, but their prices have not been revised since 2022.

Rising costs of raw materials, fuel, labour, transportation and foreign exchange have widened the gap between production costs and regulated prices, threatening supplies of some low-priced medicines.

An initiative launched in February to expand the Essential Medicines List to 295 medicines under a new pricing framework was cancelled in August before implementation.