Govt adds 135 new medicines to essential drug list, prices fixing soon
The list includes diabetes and hypertension medicines but excludes cancer drugs
Highlights:
- The essential drugs list will cover 295-296 medicines
- All essential drugs will be sold at govt-fixed prices
- High-priced drugs will gradually reduce over four years
- 1,100 non-essential drugs, prices to be set in a defined range
The government has added 135 new medicines to the essential drugs list and their prices will be fixed soon, said Md Sayedur Rahman, special assistant to the chief adviser for the health ministry.
Addressing a press briefing at the Foreign Service Academy today (8 January), he said, "An essential drugs list has been prepared, which currently includes 295 drugs. At today's [yesterday's] Advisory Council meeting, requests were made to include one or two more medicines. So, the total number of drugs on the list could rise to 296. Compared with the previous list, 135 or 136 new medicines have been included this time."
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Chief Adviser's Press Secretary Shafiqul Alam, Deputy Press Secretary Abul Kalam Azad, among others, were present at the briefing.
Sayedur Rahman said the list reflects Bangladesh's shift from communicable to non-communicable diseases. It covers primary treatment medicines for both types of illnesses. While cancer drugs are not included in the essential medicines list, medicines for diabetes and hypertension are part of it.
"All drugs on this list must be sold at government-fixed prices, which will be implemented within the next few days. To enforce it, a separate drug pricing authority will be established in the future, independent of the Directorate General of Drug Administration," he said.
Explaining the pricing mechanism, he said, "Medicines currently being sold at prices higher than the fixed rate will have to gradually come down to that level. Those priced below the fixed rate may choose to remain within that level or adjust their prices upward up to the maximum ceiling."
Sayedur Rahman said a four-year timeframe will be provided for phased implementation, with prices to be adjusted gradually each year to align with government-set rates within that period.
He said that essential medicines, by definition, are sufficient to treat most diseases affecting around 80% of the population. As a result, regulating the prices of these medicines will have a major direct impact on access to treatment and medicines for 80% of people in the country, calling it a landmark decision.
He also said that for around 1,100 generic medicines outside the essential list, prices will not be fixed at a specific level but instead set within a defined range. These medicines may be sold at up to 15% above or below the government-determined benchmark price.
He said medicines produced by more than seven manufacturers will have prices set based on the average market rate, with a ±15% margin—for example, a drug sold between Tk10 and Tk20 will be fixed at Tk15. For medicines with fewer than seven producers, prices will be set using international market rates.
Prof Sayedur added that the pricing policy has been approved by the Advisory Council and will be published soon. Once in effect, all medicines, including new ones, will fall under regulation.
Noting that two-thirds of household healthcare spending in Bangladesh goes toward medicines, he said various models are used worldwide to reduce this burden, such as pharmaceutical benefit schemes, national health services, and Medicare or Medicaid programmes. Since Bangladesh lacks such insurance or benefit schemes, government intervention through drug price regulation was necessary to keep medicines affordable for the public.
He added that the government has been working since November last year to expand the essential drugs list and had formed a task force to carry out this work.
On 24 July 2025, the health ministry formed an 18-member task force, headed by Md Shahinul Alam, vice-chancellor of Bangladesh Medical University, to set prices for essential medicines. Although the report was expected within a month, delays occurred. Based on the committee's recommendations, the government has now finalised the list.
In 2016, a list of 286 essential medicines — including antibiotics, pneumonia and cold/fever treatments, hypertension and gastric ulcer drugs, deworming, pain relief, asthma, and vitamins — was prepared, but prices were fixed for only 117. Although the list was meant to be updated annually, oversight was ineffective over the past nine years.
The 1982 drug policy also included 286 essential medicines, and despite WHO guidelines calling for annual updates, revisions occurred only in 2008 and 2016. The remaining medicines' prices were set by manufacturers.
The government has warned that companies failing to comply with price adjustments will not be allowed to submit applications for new medicines. Sayedur Rahman said the same rules will apply to newly introduced drugs.
National Medicine Pricing Policy 2025
The government has finalized the National Medicine Pricing Policy 2025 to make medicine prices in Bangladesh more transparent and rational. The policy introduces a new framework for essential medicines and sets separate pricing guidelines for non-essential, new generic, biologic, and imported medicines.
Under the policy, the maximum retail price (MRP) of essential medicines will be calculated using a cost-plus formula based on raw materials, primary, secondary, and tertiary packaging costs, and prescribed markups, excluding VAT.
