RECENT increase in the prices of drugs has put the focus back on the remarkable laxity and leisure that characterises the crucial area of health in Pakistan. As expected, the increase has the media and stakeholders such as the chemists protesting on behalf of the people. A `mafia` is alleged to be behind the hike, in partnership, indeed, with ever-willing officials. The still unsettled Drug Regulatory Authority of Pakistan has tried to appear blameless, saying that the prices have been increased without its approval and in pursuance of the proceedings in court. Just as the pharmaceutical companies ask to be heard over the din of objections to the hike, the Punjab government has declared it will ensure the old prices by applying tough administrative measures such as a close monitoring of the market. It is because of the impassioned responses that the real issue causing the controversy remains eclipsed. The basic issue is that this country has failed to evolve a mechanism for regulating prices.

Meanwhile, this recent hike didn`t come out of the blue. The government and the drug manufacturers local and multinational have been at loggerheads over a formula for the increase in the prices of medicines. The makers point out that in the face of everrising costs, retail prices have remained constant for a decade and a half since 2001. Amid pressure on the government to make a list of essential drugs, whose prices it must keep under watch, in November 2013, Drap notified an increase of 15pc on a number of drugs, excluding those categorised as life-saving. The notification was withdrawn the next day on the direction of the prime minister.

The manufacturers have been demanding an increase calculated on the basis of inflation and they point out their court cases seeking hardship relief had been pending since the year 2008. They say they were forced to increase the prices of a few drugs in the absence of a mutually agreed upon policy. According to the drugs companies, all they are asking for is hardship allowance, a claim which is open to valid questions by the chemists and people at large. The hike has been greeted by a shake of the head on the part of a disapproving government. The officials, including those in Drap, could have better utilised their energy in building a reasonable mechanism with the people`s interest held above all else.