Dhaka, Nov 26 (bdnews24.com)--Health minister AFM Ruhul Huq has called upon the country's major pharmaceutical companies to produce low-cost life-saving medicines and help maintain their supply.

"It is necessary to refix the prices of life-saving medicines in such a way so that their supplies go undisturbed," he said on Thursday at a roundtable on national health policy and the role of pharmacists.

He urged the local pharmaceutical establishments not to stop the production of low-priced medicines.

"That is why the meeting of the price-fixing committee was held after a long time. Soon the problem will be resolved," he said.

Doctors and experts at the meeting laid emphasis on implementation of a coordinated health policy for the people.

The minister said the government was working on formulation of a comprehensive policy so that health services can be delivered to people's doorsteps.

"To serve the rural people, standard of services at all layers including the community clinics and district health complexes is being developed," Huq said.

He said the government was also contemplating sending all doctors to villages in rotation at least for three months.

"Though funds are a problem, the right services also do not reach people because of a lot of weaknesses in this sector," said the minister.

Researcher Abul Barkat said he does not see in the proposed health policy what will be the principles on medicine production and business policy and the policy on the preservation of medicines.

"Once the copyright law is implemented after 2016, life-saving medicines will go beyond the purchasing power of poor people in developing countries.

"If steps are not taken right now, there will be an adverse situation."

Barkat stressed the need for a coordinated health policy since malnourishment among the poor is on the rise.

BSMMU Hospital vice-chancellor Prof Pran Gopal Datta said, "Though four separate health policies were formulated in the last one decade, none was implemented."

He called for policy "in keeping with the needs and demands of the people."

It will be difficult to implement the people-oriented health policy if the life-saving medicines cannot be kept within the purchasing power of the common people, Datta observed.

He suggested health, treatment, drug, cosmetics and health-related education programmes all be combined in the coordinated health policy.

Prof Abu Sara Shamsur Rauf, who presented the keynote paper, stressed coordinated health policy taking food policy, drug policy, cosmetics policy and health education programme together.

The roundtable was organised by the National Pharmacist Society at the National Press Club.

The function chaired by convener of the society Selim Azad Chowdhury was addressed, among others, by Bangladesh Medical Association secretary general Mahmud Hasan and joint secretary general Abdul Aziz, Kazi Faruq of the Consumers Association of Bangladesh and pharmaceutical industry representative Abdul Muktadir.

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