They said the syndicate, loyal to the ruling quarter, knocks up the prices of pharmaceutical items at their whim affecting the pockets of the common people.

Pharmacy Graduates Association Bangladesh (PGAB) and Doctors for Health and Environment (DHE) jointly organised the roundtable titled "National Drug Policy: Present Situation" at the National Press Club. DHE President Prof Dr Rashid E Mahbub chaired the roundtable.

When government hospitals purchase one antibiotic pill (ciprofloxacin group) at Tk 2.5, retailers charge Tk 8-14 for the same making a huge difference between the wholesale and the retail prices, the speakers observed.

According to them, the market is swamped with substandard medicines due to relax rules in the country's drug policy with regard to permission of manufacturing drug items that poses a serious hazard to public health.

The experts at the roundtable voiced their grave concern over the failure of the drug policy to comply with the objectives set by WHO (World Health Organisation).

National Professor and noted physician Dr Nurul Islam was the main speaker at the roundtable. Former Vice Chancellor of Dhaka University Prof AK Azad Chowdhury, Associate Professor of Pharmacology of Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujib Medical University (BSMMU) Dr Saidur Rahman, Organising Secretary of DHE Fazle Elahi Milad and ABM Faruk of PGAB took part in the discussion.

Speaking on the occasion, Dr Nurul Islam said the present government formulated a new drug policy in 2005 giving up the provisions of the 1982 drug policy, prompting the drug producers to produce low-grade medicines.

"There are huge medicines in the market although all of them are the combination of a few drugs. Due to availability of various medicines, doctors often get confused and feel encouraged to prescribe some unnecessary ones," he said.

Referring to the 1982 drug policy, the eminent physician said the drug policy adopted in 2005 largely allows the foreign companies to come here.

"There is no protection for the domestic manufacturers. The local manufacturers will realise after a year how much they have to suffer from the clause of grossly welcoming the foreign companies," he said.

Strongly criticising the Health Ministry, Dr Islam said the previous policies had constituted the drug control committee with experts while the new policy formed the committee with the manufacturers excluding the experts.

"Now the role of the drug control committee is to protect the interests of the manufacturers, not the common people's," he said, adding, "the Health Minister permitted around 350 companies to produce pharmaceutical items. I don't know how much the minister has earned from the permissions."

Dr Islam, who was the chairman of the 1982 drug policy makers, demanded a fresh drug policy with effective monitoring system to ensure the quality of medicines along with provisions for punishment and inclusion of experts at all stages.

Former DU VC AK Azad Chowdhury underscored the need for ensuring the purchase and affordability of medicine items for the common people.

"Drug policy is a tool for prescribing appropriate medicines to the people and the 2005 policy has completely failed to ensure that," he added.

Dr Saidur Rahman said Bangladesh produces over 14,000 substances or brands of medicines every year while its three testing laboratories have the capacity to examine only 3,000 brands.

"Over 11,000 brands are arriving at the market without any test for lack of infrastructure posing a serious threat to public health," he said.