The Grey Clouds Looming over Pakistan's Drug Transparency Sector
Pakistan has experienced major turbulence in terms of drug pricing over the course of the past two years, with prices jumping as high as 260% of their original. A country with a large majority of population living in low socioeconomic settings, with an out of pocket healthcare finance system, non-availability of state sponsored healthcare insurance, and this price hike meant that treatment was now a privilege, rather than an essential commodity. However, the government faces serious backlashes from pharmaceutical industrialists when it retorts to appeasing the general public. With a moderation and regulation in drug pricing comes an acute shortage of medicinal availability across the country. Could this be blackmail? Or a genuine need for a price hike to optimize profits from the sale of medicines made from imported chemicals?
