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Pakistan has digitised DRAP’s registration system, with over 86,000 medicines tracked and online approvals reduced to 21 days, while medicine pricing remains a key industry concern.
The Drug Regulatory Authority of Pakistan (DRAP) has been made fully transparent and digitalised, with more than 86,000 medicines registered under its Track and Trace System, Federal Health Minister Mustafa Kamal announced on Saturday. The initiative allows consumers to scan medicines using their mobile phones to verify product authenticity and check prices.
Addressing industrialists during a visit to the Korangi Association of Trade and Industry (KATI) in Karachi, the minister said the digital system had also transformed the registration process for pharmaceutical companies. Businesses can now register their medicines and products online, with a procedure that previously took years reportedly being completed within just 21 days.
Mustafa Kamal said DRAP had shifted its certification procedures to a digital system eight months ago, during which more than 5,000 cases had been processed. He added that Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif had recognised the authority’s performance by presenting it with an award for its digitalisation efforts.
The minister also highlighted medicine pricing as an issue requiring serious attention, particularly as pharmaceutical companies seek increases in the prices of their products. He said the matter was under consideration by the federal cabinet, given the competing concerns of manufacturers and consumers.
According to Mustafa Kamal, increasing medicine prices could place an additional financial burden on ordinary citizens, while keeping prices unchanged could discourage supply and create shortages of essential medicines. In some cases, patients are consequently forced to purchase medicines for serious illnesses from the black market at prices reportedly three times higher than their actual rates.
To address the issue, the health minister suggested that the government withdraw from direct medicine price regulation and allow market forces to determine prices, as they do for other products. The proposal highlights the ongoing debate over balancing affordable healthcare with the pharmaceutical industry’s need to maintain supplies.
KATI President Sheikh Umer Rehan also called for greater engagement between federal ministers and Karachi’s business community. He proposed that ministers visit the city at least once a month, following the pattern of the Federal Board of Revenue chairman, to hear industry concerns and address sector-specific challenges.
Rehan further criticised Pakistan’s high production costs, saying the country’s cost of doing business was among the highest in the region. He also raised concerns over the government’s decision to increase interest rates, arguing that it had added further pressure on industrial operations.
He noted that Korangi Industrial Area housed a significant share of Pakistan’s pharmaceutical industry and appreciated the health ministry’s efforts to digitalise DRAP, saying the initiative had reduced difficulties faced by businesses. He added that the business community expected Mustafa Kamal, as a federal minister representing Karachi, to effectively raise the city’s concerns with the federal government.
