CAB demands resolution to gas-power crisis, equally slams decision to scrap interim's essential drugs list

The Consumers Association of Bangladesh (CAB) has demanded immediate government action to resolve the ongoing electricity and gas crisis, and to reinstate the recently scrapped list of essential medicines, warning that consumer suffering has reached an extreme level. 
  
The demands came at a discussion meeting titled "Protest against inadequate electricity and gas supply and the decision to scrap the essential medicine list," organised by CAB at its Segunbagicha office in the capital today (3 September). 
  
Addressing the meeting, CAB President AHM Shafiquzzaman said around 400 mills have already shut down amid the fuel crisis, raising the risk of higher production costs and unemployment. 
  
He said gas and oil prices, transport extortion and system loss were fuelling public suffering, and called for a reduction in import dependence to ensure domestic industry and fuel availability and moving towards self-reliance. 
  
He also urged the government to inform the public about the rationale behind scrapping the essential drugs list and take effective steps to control medicine prices, cautioning the authorities to adopt a pro-people policy ensuring safe food and medicine supplies. 
  
On 3 August, 2026, a cabinet decision scrapped the Essential Medicines List 2026 and the Drug Price Determination Method 2026, both implemented by the interim government at the start of the year. Most notably, the interim government's framework expanded price-controlled generic drugs from 117 to 295. 
  
The latest decision of the BNP government reverts back to a 1994 law, and the prices for almost 180 additional medicines that were briefly facing state regulation will instead be determined directly by private pharmaceutical companies under Directorate General of Drug Administration (DGDA) oversight. Speakers at today's CAB event clearly stated that is a broken model.  
  
CAB Central Secretary General Humayun Kabir Bhuiyan said consumer suffering had peaked due to the gas-electricity crisis, and the scrapping of the interim government's essential medicines list. 
  
"We are not against the government; rather, we are playing an advocacy role, standing beside the government in the public interest," he said, urging authorities to identify those responsible and take swift, effective measures to ease consumer hardship. 
  
CAB Treasurer Shawkat Ali Khan said adulteration has "taken the shape of an epidemic," adding that various problems already existed around medicines even before the essential drug list was abruptly scrapped, worsening the crisis further. 
  
He called for restoring the essential medicine list to ensure logical pricing and availability, along with strict measures against adulterated medicine and food to safeguard public health. 
  
Bangladesh Sadharan Nagorik Samaj Convener Mohiuddin Ahmed said the energy crisis requires specific solutions, calling for effective measures to boost domestic gas extraction and ensure fuel supply, and stressed the need for long-term energy planning to reduce import dependence.