‘Prioritise national API policy implementation’
The Alliance for Health Reforms Bangladesh (AHRB) has called on the chief adviser to personally prioritise and oversee the rapid implementation of the National Active Pharmaceutical Ingredient (API) Policy, citing its critical importance to Bangladesh's economic resilience and public health security.
An open letter was issued today, signed by Syed Abdul Hamid, convener of AHRB and professor at the Institute of Health Economics of the University of Dhaka, and Syed Muhammad Akram Hussain, chairman of the Department of Clinical Oncology at Bangladesh Medical University and member of the Health Sector Reform Commission.
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The alliance underscored the urgency of reducing dependence on imported pharmaceutical raw materials.
The letter said that despite meeting around 98 percent of domestic medicine demand, Bangladesh remains heavily reliant on imported APIs—materials essential for drug production.
This overdependence, the letter warns, not only drains valuable foreign exchange reserves but also exposes the nation to global supply chain disruptions, as seen during the Covid-19 pandemic, said AHRB.
The Health Sector Reform Commission has already identified local API production, alongside vaccines, medical devices, and diagnostics, as a national strategic priority.
The letter urges the government to treat this policy as more than a bureaucratic reform, but rather a foundational investment in the country's future economic security and health sovereignty.
To ensure rapid progress in strengthening Bangladesh's pharmaceutical self-reliance, AHRB has outlined five urgent priorities in its appeal to the chief adviser.
These include the swift removal of regulatory and infrastructural hurdles currently obstructing API production, along with the introduction of a competitive Production-Linked Incentive (PLI) scheme to attract domestic and foreign investment.
The alliance also stresses the need for sustained public funding to advance pharmaceutical research and innovation, as well as the creation of strong, institutionalised partnerships between academia and industry to facilitate technology transfer and develop a skilled scientific workforce.
Finally, AHRB calls for the establishment of an empowered, permanent inter-ministerial task force with full authority to ensure coordinated, time-bound implementation of the National API Policy.
AHRB further stressed that the policy holds the potential to transform Bangladesh into a regional pharmaceutical export hub, with significant gains in foreign exchange savings, skilled employment, and a boost in the country's tax-to-GDP ratio.
"The time for action is now," the letter said, urging the CA and the finance adviser to lead the charge and ensure the policy does not remain on paper but delivers measurable impact for the nation.
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