Due to this , on the one hand, the price of medicines has increased while on the other hand, there is a risk of shortage of some medicines.
"Either the government should facilitate solution to our problem, or, they have to leave the market on auto run. Otherwise, the situation will get worse," said the officials of the Nepal Pharmaceutical Industry Association.
Mahesh Prasad Pradhan, former President of the Association and Managing Director of Omnica Laboratories, said that in the international market, the prices of raw materials required for the pharmaceutical industry and produced medicine have skyrocketed as well as the cycle of distribution has also been disturbed.
"Earlier, the raw material suppliers used to fix a rate for a long time. But now the rate are fixed for only for 3-4 days. Even if the goods are ordered, there is no guarantee of shipment. The price is high. How long will the market bear if the government does not address it immediately? The situation is really serious," Pradhan told Merolagani.
According to Pharma traders, the cost of production of every drug has increased due to the skyrocketing prices of raw materials and petroleum products imported from the international market. However, the Department of Drug Administration has not given permission to pharmaceutical industries to increase prices.
"You may be surprised that there is not even a single paisa profit on some medicines now. The way the prices of petroleum products and raw materials are increasing, now there is a situation of loss, let alone profit," says Pradhan.
An official of the Nepal Pharmaceutical Association, another organization working in the field of medicines, claims that the government has been forcing the industries to sell medicines at the same price for two decades. "Where has the graph of inflation reached? When will the government allow the price of medicines to increase? Either the government should give subsidy on the production of medicines according to the cost or the price should be fixed according to the market," the official said.
Most of the raw materials required for the production of medicines in Nepal are imported from abroad, mostly, India. Several pharmaceutical companies in the Indian states of Gujarat, Maharashtra, Telangana and Andhra Pradesh have closed partially or completely due to the acute shortage of propane gas. There are reports of shortage of many medicines including paracetamol, vitamins, antibiotics and hormones related medicine in some states of India.
Stakeholders say that it will not take long for such a situation to arise in Nepal if the government does not immediately pay attention to resolving the problem.
