Pakistan Registers Over 86,000 Medicines Under Track And Trace

KARACHI: (News Desk) –  Federal Minister for Health Mustafa Kamal has announced that the Drug Regulatory Authority of Pakistan (DRAP) has been fully digitalized to improve transparency, simplify regulatory procedures and facilitate the pharmaceutical industry.

Addressing industrialists during a visit to the Korangi Association of Trade and Industry (KATI), the minister said more than 86,000 medicines manufactured by pharmaceutical companies had been registered under the Track and Trace System.

He explained that the system allows consumers to scan medicine packaging through their mobile phones to verify product authenticity. Pharmaceutical companies can also register their medicines and other products through the online platform.

Discussing medicine pricing, Mustafa Kamal said the government faced two major challenges: increasing prices could place an additional financial burden on ordinary citizens, while keeping prices unchanged could lead to shortages, particularly of medicines used to treat serious illnesses.

He noted that shortages sometimes forced patients to purchase essential medicines from the black market at prices as high as three times their actual rates.

The minister proposed reconsidering the government’s direct intervention in medicine pricing, suggesting that market forces should be allowed to determine prices, as happens with other commodities.

Meanwhile, KATI President Sheikh Umer Rehan urged federal ministers to visit Karachi at least once a month, following the example of the Federal Board of Revenue (FBR) chairman, to engage with business representatives and address industry-related concerns.

He said Pakistan’s production costs were among the highest in the region and added that the government’s decision to further increase interest rates had created additional difficulties for the industrial sector.

Sheikh Umer Rehan also highlighted the importance of Korangi Industrial Area, which hosts a significant part of Pakistan’s pharmaceutical industry and contributes to the country’s pharmaceutical production.

Welcoming the Health Ministry’s initiative to digitalize DRAP, he said the move had considerably reduced operational difficulties for pharmaceutical companies and improved the regulatory environment.