Health Professionals Association accuses Health Minister of reversing drug pricing policy

Colombo, June 19 (Daily Mirror) - The Health Professionals Association today alleged that Health Minister Dr. Nalinda Jayatissa is attempting to reverse a key pricing policy implemented to prevent financial losses to the government when purchasing medicines from local manufacturers.

Addressing a media briefing in Colombo, Association President Ravi Kumudesh claimed that despite Cabinet approval to operate a single price committee, the Health Ministry is now taking steps to recommend higher drug prices through price calls in batches, a move that undermines open competition among pharmaceutical companies.

He said the decision to maintain two separate price committees in the past - a ‘Super Price Committee’ and a ‘General Price Committee’ - had resulted in significant financial losses due to inconsistent pricing. 

Kumudesh noted that it was former Health Minister Ramesh Pathirana who intervened to eliminate this practice, by obtaining Cabinet approval to merge the two committees and ensure fairer, competitive pricing.

Highlighting examples, Kumudesh revealed that the Super Price Committee had approved Rs. 3.90 per paracetamol tablet, while the General Price Committee had set it at Rs. 2.70. With around 700 million paracetamol tablets purchased annually by the Ministry of Health, this pricing discrepancy had led to losses exceeding Rs. 300 million.

Similarly, the price for an aspirin tablet had been set at Rs. 4.50 by the Super Price Committee, compared to Rs. 3.90 by the General Price Committee.

Kumudesh warned that recent efforts within the Health Ministry to revert to the dual-committee system will once again open the door to inflated drug prices and financial mismanagement. He urged the government and the Health Minister to immediately intervene and safeguard the pricing reforms already put in place for the benefit of the public and the state.