Pharmaceutical Industry reaffirms its support
The Sri Lanka Chamber of the Pharmaceutical Industry reaffirmed their
support to the Government and the Ministry of Health for the
implementation of the new National Drug Policy at their recently held
Annual General meeting (AGM), at Colombo’s Taj Samudra Hotel.
The President of the SLCPI, Vish Govindasamy, who was elected for a
2nd term in office, speaking at the AGM said that the SLPI was aware
that the new Drug policy, will set standards, controls and guidelines
for the importation and marketing of pharmaceuticals. He said “it will
also help to discipline the pharma importers who are not members of our
Chamber, and will, we are sure, benefit the Country as a whole, and
bring Sri Lanka in line with all other countries with regard to the
Healthcare system.”
Vish Govindasamy |
Having said that the newly elected president also added a word of
caution, requesting the Minister to take precautions to ensure that the
interests of the Pharmaceutical importers and marketers were safeguarded
while implementing the Drug Policy. He requested that they be afforded
the opportunity continu8ing to provide quality drugs, which are
currently available in every part of the country, so that patients will
be able to purchase them at a competitive price. “We also earnestly
request you to kindly bear in mind the large number of people who are
now employed in the pharmaceutical industry, both directly and
indirectly and we appeal to you to kindly ensure that these peoples’
careers and their livelihood or that of their dependents are not
affected in any way” he said.
The pharmaceutical industry has created avenues for a large number of
school leavers, both male and female to be gainfully employed as medical
representatives, field managers, sales representatives and marketing
staff. They have improved their knowledge of English, received expert
training from skilled and knowledgeable experts in the field, both
locally as well as overseas. “Many have got the opportunity to
participate in training sessions, and seminars and all this has given
them a lot of self-confidence and self-respect. Many have utilized the
opportunity to expand their academic knowledge by becoming qualified
pharmacists, Chartered Marketers and some have even obtained their
Masters degree in Business Administration. They have thus become useful
to the society and also set examples to others” said Vish Govindasamy.
Touching on price regulation of pharmaceuticals, he said that the
SLCPI in principle was not against the introduction of a reasonable,
viable and a practical formula for Price Regulation. However, he pointed
out that the introduction of a price control on pharmaceuticals will not
be as easy as controlling prices of certain other commodities, most of
which have only a few in terms of different types and brands.
He said “in pharmaceuticals, there are large numbers of different
varieties, and according to the Drug Regulatory Authority, these
varieties number over 5,000.” Sighting the different reasons as to why
pharmaceuticals are subject to frequent price fluctuations he said, they
could be attributed to a number of reasons such as the rise in the price
of raw materials, shortages of raw materials from time to time,
increased cost of packing materials and other inputs as well as the
frequent currency fluctuation, rising cost of fuel and other factors.
He pointed out that these factors could cause pharmaceutical prices
to vary from shipment to shipment. “In addition to that, with the rupee
devaluation this gets even more complicated” the president said. |