1 week Ago
In a world where healthcare is increasingly viewed as a business rather than a universal right, which needs to be provided to every other human being, the convergence of capitalism and healthcare needs to be carefully studied and states need to intervene to ensure that people aren’t being fleeced over their desire to receive adequate healthcare. Fortunately, Pakistan is one of the countries of the world which maintains a strict check on medicine prices. While there are a lot of other facets that go into healthcare, for the vast majority of people, being able to afford medicine and life-saving treatment is the biggest hurdle.
And in countries like the United States, we can see what unchecked capitalism can do. It is a nation state where insulin shots, a basic component of healthcare for many individuals, used to range in the hundreds of dollars and even now range in a high price bracket that is several times higher than other developed nations around it. Pakistan, by comparison, sells insulin for a price, in Pakistan, the price of insulin ranges anywhere from between one to five dollars.
Common Interest It’s the same drug, it’s the same manufacturing process, but in one country, capitalism has taken its toll and on the other, the state intervenes to ensure price is maintained. It is in this context that we must consider the recent letter written by the former Deputy Director of the Drug Regulation Authority of Pakistan, DRAP, where he has urged Prime Minister Shahbaz Sharif to play his role for regulating prices of medicine. He has contended that while previously DRAP was required to fix the prices of medicine, and each pharmaceutical company had to reach out to DRAP to fix prices, under the previous caretaker government, this process had been reversed and for non-essential medicine, this limit had been lifted, leading to unchecked growth in prices of medicine, which have caused knock-on effects on the people of Pakistan.
Pakistan must ensure that one of the best policies of its healthcare regime must be rigorously implemented and the Prime Minister should ensure that DRAP is urged to once again start setting prices for common medicines. Partners in Crime Tags: affordable healthcare.
