{
  "id": 17537398,
  "title": "Medicine pricing needs serious attention: health minister",
  "url": "https://urgent.news/2026/11/01/medicine-pricing-needs-serious-attention-health-minister",
  "topic": "finance",
  "section": "Finance & Markets",
  "published": "2026-11-01T04:28:15.000Z",
  "source": {
    "name": "Dawn Business",
    "slug": "dawn-business",
    "url": "https://www.dawn.com/news/2041357/medicine-pricing-needs-serious-attention-health-minister"
  },
  "original_language": "en",
  "account": "Over 86,000 medicines in Pakistan now have tracking numbers via the Track and Trace System, enabling consumers to scan products with their mobile phones to verify authenticity and view prices, announced Federal Health Minister Mustafa Kamal on Saturday. The minister highlighted that pharmaceutical companies can also register their medicines and products online, a process that previously took years but is now completed within just 21 days. At the Korangi Association of Trade and Industry (KATI) meeting, Kamal emphasized the need for serious attention to the issue of medicine pricing. He pointed out that pharmaceutical industries are advocating for price increases, but the matter is currently under review by the federal cabinet. The minister noted that the decision faces a dilemma: raising prices would burden ordinary citizens financially, while maintaining current prices might lead to medicine shortages for serious illnesses. As a result, patients have been forced to turn to the black market for certain medications, paying up to three times the actual price.",
  "summary": "https://www.dawn.com/news/2041331",
  "key_points": [],
  "editors_take": null,
  "illustration": null,
  "coverage": {
    "outlets": 1,
    "also_reported_by": []
  },
  "ai_generated": true,
  "disclaimer": "Summaries, key points and the editor’s take are written by software from other outlets’ reporting and may contain errors — always check the linked original."
}