It is no secret that Bangladesh has one of the highest out-of-pocket health expenditures in the world, with the majority of costs going toward buying medicine. Under such circumstances, it is concerning to learn that the prices of about 50 life-saving drugs have been raised by 10 to 50 percent since September. A report published in Ajker Patrika presents a grim picture of the increasing prices of drugs used to treat common ailments such as fever, acidity, pain, breathing difficulties, diabetes, high blood pressure, etc.

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Pharmacies must be better regulated

Of the 219 medicines on the list of essential drugs approved by the Directorate General of Drug Administration (DGDA), prices for 117 are fixed by DGDA. The prices for the remaining drugs are proposed by manufacturers and approved by DGDA. The drug watchdog told Ajker Patrika that it approved proposed price hikes for about 10 drugs in the last three months, but none of the mark-ups exceeded 10 percent. However, the report cited a packet of locally manufactured painkillers whose price rose from Tk 600 in August to Tk 1,000 in September—a 40 percent increase. Similarly, the price of a solution for treating scabies, manufactured by a well-known local pharmaceutical company, rose by 68 percent. Such increases have led to a 50 percent rise in people's medicine expenditure over the last three months.

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Are we ready for generic drug names on prescriptions?

When asked, drug manufacturers cite the rising import costs of raw materials as a primary reason for the price hikes. While the dollar crisis impacted import costs, import duties—which are not waived for all pharmaceutical raw materials—also add to the cost, according to some company owners. However, economists argue that a higher production cost alone cannot justify such steep price hikes. Under these circumstances, it is imperative that the DGDA fully carries out its responsibility to monitor drug prices. In the past, we have urged the authorities to also strictly monitor and regulate pharmacies, many of which arbitrarily mark up medicine prices. Many, especially in rural areas, even sell expired, substandard or counterfeit drugs thanks to poor monitoring.

At a time when dengue and other viral fevers are circulating and food inflation is skyrocketing—causing an unbearable cost of living crisis—the drug authorities must be prudent in approving and monitoring drug price hikes to prevent further public suffering.