It was imperative to create substantial accurate data related to drug prices and monitoring systems, and the South East Asian countries were looking at India for its initiative in solving the common issues, felt participants at the first of its kind workshop on 'Medicine prices and SEA region'.

The workshop that was held in Chennai on Monday was organized by The South East Asian FIP-WHO Forum of Pharmaceutical Associations (SEARPharm Forum), jointly supported by World Health Organisation Regional Office for South East Asia (WHO - SEARO) and Indian Pharmaceutical Association's Maharashtra State Branch Trust and Industrial Pharmacy Division.

"All countries in the South East Asian region are looking forward to India for solving the common issues in this segment since we are the leader in this region. A beginning has been made with this workshop, and we plan to carry on the initiative with further data creation and better understanding on national policies, pricing mechanism and control systems of the member countries. It is up to the respective governments to incorporate necessary changes in their policies and mechanisms analyzing the data" PD Sheth, professional secretary, SEARPharm Forum told Pharmabiz.

According to Dr K Weerasuriya, regional adviser, Essential Drugs & Medicines Policy, WHO- SEARO, the workshop leads to think of micro management suitable to country specific mechanisms and policies necessary to handle the issues on drug pricing. The available data on the drug prices and sales are mainly based on marketing point of view, which cannot be considered as authentic market situation. As part of its commitment to ensure medicines at affordable fair prices to the poor, WHO would continue to support research and study among member nations based on "Medicine Prices a new approach to measurement", the manual brought out jointly by World Health Organisation (WHO) and Health Action International (HAI), said Weerasuriya.

The 30 odd select participants noted that there were big gaps between the prices of branded generics and their generic versions in the region, and prices vary in different parts of the same country. Factors that influence the prices of drugs are many. In developing countries, most of the patients pay from their pocket due to lack of insurance cover, and high prices are a barrier for medicine usage among the people in the region. Physicians are the consumers for prescription drugs. In the case of OTC products, pharmacists are the decision makers on behalf of the patients. Most often, the traders are dictating the prices. The price control mechanisms enforced by the governments have not become fully efficient and successful. While Nepal has in place almost a similar price control mechanism that India has, countries like Sri Lanka are yet to assess the results of its recently decontrolled drug distribution system. Considering the health of people in the region, it was essential to shift the focus from physician-pharmacist centric pricing mechanism to patient specific requirements and affordability. Leading drug manufacturers have to be more socially responsible for continuing to manufacture certain essential drugs though they offer less profit options, felt the participants.

In his keynote address, Dr PV Appaji, director, National Pharmaceutical Pricing Authority elaborated the legislative and regulatory framework issues on medicine price control. Amish Chathurvedi, Rohnnbergen Strategic Research and Consulting group presented a paper on industry perspectives on medicine prices. Dr NK Gurbani, India, Dr Tom Ahaditomo, Indonesia, Prof. Tuley De Silva of Sri Lanka, Prof.Balakrishna Khakurel of Nepal and Aishat Ibrahim of Maldives presented respective country presentations.