Production of nearly 60 per cent of the 117 medicines included on the essential medicines list has been suspended by pharmaceutical companies at various times, according to the Bangladesh Association of Pharmaceutical Industries (BAPI). Industry representatives attribute the disruption to rising inflation, fluctuations in the US dollar exchange rate, higher labour costs, and escalating electricity and fuel prices, which they say have made the production of several essential medicines financially unsustainable.
The issue was raised at a discussion titled ‘Progress of the Pharmaceutical Industry: Challenges and Prospects’, held on Monday at the BAPI office in Tejgaon, Dhaka. Pharmaceutical industry leaders said the suspension of production was affecting the availability of some essential medicines and, in turn, increasing the cost of treatment for patients.
When lower-priced essential medicines are unavailable, patients are often compelled to purchase alternative brands or formulations that cost more. The situation can place an additional financial burden on households, particularly those requiring regular or long-term medication.
BAPI representatives said the current system for determining medicine prices is still based on the pricing framework introduced in 1994. Although production costs have changed significantly over the past three decades, medicine prices have reportedly been adjusted only twice during that period. The industry had expected prices to be adjusted by an average of 8 per cent annually, but that mechanism has not been implemented consistently.
During the same period, manufacturers have faced substantial increases in several major cost components. Inflation has raised operating expenses, while changes in the dollar exchange rate have affected the cost of imported raw materials and other production inputs. Labour costs have also risen, alongside expenses for energy and factory operations.
Industry leaders therefore called for a system under which medicine prices could be reviewed and adjusted automatically at regular intervals, taking changes in production costs into account. They argued that a predictable pricing mechanism would help manufacturers maintain production while reducing the risk of shortages.
The pharmaceutical industry has no objection to updating the essential medicines list, representatives said. They stressed, however, that such a list should be prepared and reviewed with input from qualified medical and pharmaceutical experts. A transparent and sustainable pricing policy, with provisions for regular revision, is also necessary, they added.
The continuing shortages of gas and electricity are adding another layer of pressure. Pharmaceutical manufacturing often involves processes that cannot simply be interrupted once they have begun. An unexpected power cut can disrupt production and, in some cases, result in the loss of an entire production batch.
Dr Zakir Hossain, former secretary-general of BAPI and managing director of Delta Pharma Limited, said the pharmaceutical sector should not be viewed solely through the lens of price control. Excessive pressure to keep prices low without considering production costs could, over time, undermine manufacturing and discourage investment in the sector.
He said pharmaceutical manufacturers had no objection to maintaining an essential medicines list, but stressed that it should be regularly reviewed in consultation with qualified experts. The process of setting medicine prices, he added, should also be transparent and based on realistic production costs.
Dr Hossain said ensuring affordable access to essential medicines was a responsibility of the government. If necessary, the government could use subsidies or public procurement to make medicines available to patients at lower prices.
At the same time, he argued that expecting private manufacturers to continue producing medicines at artificially low prices for an extended period without any form of subsidy or support was not realistic. The commercial conditions faced by private pharmaceutical companies, he said, were different from those of state-owned manufacturers.
He also cautioned against making a direct comparison between private pharmaceutical companies and the state-owned Essential Drugs Company Limited. According to him, the state-owned company has access to specific government procurement orders and a guaranteed market, while it does not face the same level of marketing expenditure as private manufacturers.
Dr Hossain suggested that the government could expand production through Essential Drugs Company Limited and supply medicines free of charge or at subsidised prices to patients in public hospitals.
BAPI Vice-President Mosaddek Hossain said the 1994 drug policy had played a significant role in the development of Bangladesh’s pharmaceutical industry. At the time, a list of 117 essential medicines was prepared. However, 19 of those medicines were not registered for production, leaving 98 medicines for which availability and accessibility were pursued.
He said the production costs of some of these medicines no longer matched their selling prices. As a result, manufacturers were unable to recover their costs from several essential medicines, contributing to the suspension of production of nearly 60 per cent of the medicines on the list.
BAPI Secretary-General Muhammad Halimuzzaman highlighted the impact of unreliable electricity and gas supplies on pharmaceutical manufacturing. He said factories were unable to receive electricity for a significant portion of their operating hours and were increasingly dependent on generators, large uninterrupted power supply systems and alternative fuels.
Such backup arrangements come at a considerable cost. A factory must maintain sufficient backup power because a production process cannot always be stopped safely in the middle. If electricity fails during production, the materials and products involved may be damaged, creating further financial losses.
Gas shortages have also forced manufacturers to rely more heavily on diesel to operate generators. Halimuzzaman said some companies did not have sufficient capacity to store diesel for prolonged periods. When stored fuel runs out, manufacturers have to procure additional supplies quickly, further increasing operational expenses.
The industry’s concerns point to a wider challenge in maintaining a stable supply of affordable essential medicines. While keeping medicines within the reach of ordinary patients remains a major public-health priority, manufacturers argue that production must also remain economically viable.
A pricing system that reflects changing production costs, regular review of the essential medicines list, improved reliability of gas and electricity supplies, and stronger use of government procurement could help address some of these pressures. Without measures that balance affordability for patients with the financial realities of manufacturing, the availability of some essential medicines may remain under strain.
