DOHA: The recent move by the Supreme Council of Health (SCH) to bring the prices of medicines under control is expected to deliver results very soon, say industry sources.
The SCH has put a 20 per cent cap on price hike on medicine after a leading distributor had hiked the prices exorbitantly. The move can curb a further hike in the prices although they are not likely to revert to the previous levels.
According to some retailers, the company in question has stopped fresh supplies of several medicines to the retailers apparently to revise their prices in line with the SCH directive.
The SCH has allowed the distributor a maximum 20 per cent hike from their old prices, half of which should be passed over to the retailers. The company had raised the prices of several medicines by more than 40 per cent over the past few months.
"We have not received any new pricelists from this wholesaler. However, we learnt that the company has stopped fresh supplies of several medicines. We don't know whether they have got any instruction from the authorities or they are waiting for further instructions," a retailer told this newspaper yesterday.
He said there were also rumours that another leading distributor who was supposed to announce a price hike shortly had shelved the plans.
Several citizens while welcoming the SCH move called on the authorities to disclose the names of traders who hiked the prices unjustifiably. Talking to an Arabic daily, some nationals suggested to set up a special committee to monitor the prices of medicines, following the unprecedented hike in their prices.
There are others who believe that the 20 per cent cap would prompt all traders to raise the prices to that level.
© The Peninsula 2011
