Health Minister vows war against drug mafia - Editorial
06 Mar 2014 - {{hitsCtrl.values.hits}}
Health Minister Maithripala Sirisena charged on Tuesday that a drug mafia including some trans-national pharmaceutical corporations, pharmacy owners, even some medical specialists and officials of the Health Ministry were thwarting the efforts by the Health Ministry to make it mandatory to prescribe and sell quality medicinal drugs under the generic names. The Minister told the Daily Mirror that with the approval of the President and the Cabinet, the Ministry had prepared legislation for a national medicinal drugs policy and to impose price control on medicinal drugs through a gazette notification effective from January 1. This was to be done in co-operation with the Ministry of Consumer Affairs. In a shocking revelation the Minister said the draft legislation had disappeared in a mysterious way and he believed that the drug mafia was responsible for it. In a speech at Anuradhapura on Monday the Minister also vowed that he would not allow this drug mafia to run or manipulate the heath service of this country. He said he would name and shame those involved in this drug mafia.
The Minister said that because of this delay and disappearance of the legislation, trans-national drug companies, medical specialists and pharmacies continued to issue medicinal drugs under highly expensive brand names, fleecing the hapless patients of millions of rupees.
Commenting on the recent purchase of an expensive breast cancer treatment drug PacliALL for Rs. 78,000 a vial when it was available for Rs. 38,000, Minister Sirisena said new tenders would be called for the drug by the Director General of Health Services shortly and the company which sold the drug at the excessive price would not be allowed to submit a tender.
We commend Minister Sirisena’s pledge to name and shame the companies and individuals involved in the drug mafia which is preventing the Government from restoring a health service where the well-being of the patients is given priority. The first important step in this direction would be the implementation of the National Medicinal Drugs Policy based on Prof. Senaka Bibile’s essential medicines concept. Simultaneously price control would also be introduced, thus making quality drugs available to the people at affordable prices.
Health rights groups say the Government should also introduce legislation for the implementation of a Charter of Patients Rights and Responsibilities. This charter comprising 13 rights of patients and three responsibilities was worked out by a team led by the veteran pharmacologist the late Dr. K. Balasubramanium at the request of the Health Ministry. It was submitted to the ministry more than five years ago and we hope Minister Sirisena would act fast in implementing this charter also. Health rights groups say another urgent need is a constitutional amendment to make health a fundamental right for the people. A draft worked out by the People’s Movement for the Rights of Patients (PMRP) and the Law and Society Trust (LST) was submitted to the Health Ministry and the Ministry of Constitutional Affairs several years ago. We hope the constitutional amendment also will be introduced soon as a part of the Health Minister’s war against the drug mafia which he charged was of the impression that it was more powerful than the Government itself.
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