‘Extended duty benefit to keep medicine prices in check’
The proposed budget has provided relief to pharmaceuticals manufacturers and patients as it retained duty-free import benefits for over 100 raw materials used in making life saving cancer, heart disease and diabetes drugs.
"Due to this decision of the government, the price of the medicine will not increase and patients can purchase those at the present price," said Mohammad Ebadul Karim, managing director of Beacon Pharmaceuticals PLC.
"…which will ensure benefit for the drug makers and the family members of the patients," he said during an interview with The Daily Star yesterday on the proposed budget for fiscal year 2023-24.
"I welcome the budget regarding this well-intentioned work of the government as it keeps patient's sufferings in mind due to ongoing inflationary pressure," he said.
If the prices of expensive drugs remain stable while other expenses increase, it would mean that patients with cancer, diabetes and heart disease will not face additional financial strain related to their medication, said Karim.
Any duty would have increased medicine prices, putting additional financial pressure on the family members of the patients, he said.
Being able to retain existing prices will help manufacturers maintain export competitiveness, he said.
"In a scenario where prices of essential cancer drugs remain stable while other expenses rise, it would mean that cancer patients can access their necessary treatments without facing an additional financial burden," he noted.
This stability would alleviate the financial stress on patients and their families, allowing them to focus on their health and well-being, he said.
Affordable access to medication is crucial for cancer patients, as treatment often involves long-term and expensive therapies, said Karim.
He suggested that the government consider reducing or eliminating duties and taxes on essential medicines like cancer, heart disease and diabetes at least until 2030, making them more affordable for the general population.
The revenue authority has been offering the concessionary duty benefit on the import of ingredients of cancer drugs since 2015 in order to encourage domestic production and reduce the cost of medicines.
It expanded the list of ingredients in 2021 and the latest continuation of exemptions came in the proposed budgetary measures placed by Finance Minister AHM Mustafa Kamal for the next fiscal year of 2023-24.
In 2021, the government extended a preferential import duty and VAT benefit within the price and quantity limits specified by the Directorate General of Drug Administration.
According to a World Health Organization report, there are around 15 lakh cancer patients in Bangladesh, with 150,000 dying each year. Every year two lakh people are diagnosed with cancer.
The Global Cancer Observatory estimates that 109,000 people died of cancer in Bangladesh in 2020. It was 108,137 in 2018 and 91,300 in 2012.
According to an Evercare Hospital Dhaka analysis, chances of dying from heart disease has gone up to about 14.31 per cent in Bangladesh in the last 10 years.
According to International Diabetes Federation estimates for 2021, there were approximately 8.4 million adults aged 20-79 years living with diabetes in Bangladesh.
Local cancer drug sales amounted to about Tk 800 crore last year and the demand is growing by 15 per cent on an average annually, industry people say.
Around six local companies manufacture 99 per cent of the oncology drugs consumed by patients but some people still prefer imported drugs, according to a manufacturer.
Export of oncology products began in 2015 and now reach at least 140 countries.
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