TDS Desk:

The government has expanded the National Essential Medicines List to 295 drugs, adding 135 new items, and will fix their prices to ensure affordability.

Professor Dr Md Sayedur Rahman, special assistant to the chief adviser for the Ministry of Health And Family Welfare, disclosed the decision at a briefing at the Foreign Service Academy auditorium this afternoon (8 January) following a meeting of the Advisory Council.

Chief Adviser’s Press Secretary Shafiqul Alam, Deputy Press Secretary Abul Kalam Azad, and others were present at the briefing.

Sayedur Rahman said the Advisory Council approved, in principle, both the updated National Essential Medicines List and guidelines for medicine pricing.

Under the decision, prices of all medicines on the essential list will be set by the government, he added.

He said Bangladesh’s drug policy, first formulated in 1982, played a crucial role in making the pharmaceutical sector self-sufficient and improving access to medicines.

“At the time, there were around 350 medicines in the market, of which prices of 117 were regulated. However, the system remained largely unchanged for the past three decades, leading to a sharp rise in the number of medicines beyond the regulated list,” he added.

At present, Sayedur Rahman about 1,300 medicines are outside the price-controlled framework.

“As part of the new policy, the government will also set price ceilings for around 1,100 non-essential medicines. Pharmaceutical companies will be allowed to sell these products at up to 15% above the government-fixed price,” he said.

The pricing framework for these drugs will remain valid for four years.

If companies fail to comply with the price adjustment, the government will not consider their applications for approval of new medicines, Sayedur Rahman warned, adding that the policy will also apply to newly developed drugs.

Noting that nearly two-thirds of out-of-pocket health expenditure in Bangladesh goes toward medicines, he said many countries reduce this burden through pharmaceutical benefit schemes, national health services, or insurance-based systems such as Medicaid and Medicare.

“In the absence of such mechanisms in Bangladesh, state intervention in medicine pricing has become essential to keep drugs affordable for the people,” he added.