{"id":9305,"date":"2026-07-08T13:14:03","date_gmt":"2026-07-08T07:29:03","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/medicosnext.com\/?p=9305"},"modified":"2026-07-08T13:14:06","modified_gmt":"2026-07-08T07:29:06","slug":"the-anticancer-platinum-drugs-crisis","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/medicosnext.com\/?p=9305","title":{"rendered":"The Anticancer Platinum Drugs Crisis"},"content":{"rendered":"\n
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Mr. Pawan Acharya
<\/strong>President of Medicine Importers Association of Nepal (MIAN)<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The healthcare sector in Nepal recently faced a terrifying reality: an acute shortage of vital oncology injections like Cisplatin and Carboplatin. Driven by global conflicts, disrupted raw material supply chains, and skyrocketing costs, the crisis exposed the severe vulnerabilities of Nepal’s rigid drug pricing policies. Nepal fixed the price of 96 medicines in 2072 and hasn\u2019t looked back since then. While fixed price might appear as something that helps the patient. It is the same fixed price policy that led to the collapse of the regular supply chain of these medicines. This led to acute shortage of anticancer drugs like Cisplatin and Carboplatin all over the nation. It is not just us even India, the global supplier of medicines is having hard times meeting its patient\u2019s needs at this critical time.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

At this critical juncture, it was the prompt intervention of the Medicine Importers Association of Nepal (MIAN) that averted a complete disaster. Looking beyond the immediate emergency the medicine importers stepped forward to save patient lives but also the sweeping systemic reforms Nepal must implement to prevent such life-threatening shortages from recurring in the future.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Stepping Up in a Crisis<\/strong>
Putting human lives above profit, MIAN members took immediate action, prioritizing saving citizens over financial gain. The very next day, multiple importers placed emergency orders from Bangladesh. By absorbing the financial losses themselves, these importers secured a critical three-week emergency supply to fulfill the desperate demands of patient parties. However, Mr. Acharya warns that this is a temporary bandage; the government cannot sustainably expect importers to continually operate at a loss to subsidize a broken regulatory system.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

When the regular commercial import of Carboplatin and Cisplatin became unfeasible due to Nepal’s outdated, fixed maximum retail price (MRP) policy, panic ensued. In response, an emergency meeting was convened with the Health Secretary and the Director General of the Department of Drug Administration (DDA). Unable to offer a swift legal fix to the pricing policy, the government appealed to the importers’ conscience, asking them to \u201cdo their duty for the nation\u201d at difficult times.<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Blueprint for the Future: What the Nation Must Do<\/strong>\u00a0
To ensure that Nepal never again faces a scenario where life-saving drugs are unavailable, MIAN strongly advocates for a multi-pronged reform of the national healthcare and pharmaceutical policies:<\/p>\n\n\n\n

1. Implement an Automated, Dynamic Pricing System<\/strong>
\u00a0Nepal\u2019s current drug pricing was last fixed over a decade ago in 2072 BS, failing to account for global inflation, currency fluctuations, or raw material shortages. The nation must adopt an automated pricing system linked to global realities. Back in 2072 1 USD was hovering around 107 NPR, now it is at around 155 NPR. If the manufacturing costs in the country of origin (like India) rise, Nepal\u2019s MRP must be adjusted upwards to ensure the drug remains available; if global raw material prices drop, the local price should automatically decrease. Furthermore, policies should dictate that the MRP in Nepal should not exceed the price set in the manufacturer’s home country, ensuring fairness for Nepali citizens.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

2. End Arbitrary Customs Valuations and Fines<\/strong>\u00a0
Even when importers manage to secure medicines efficiently, they face immense hurdles at the borders. While the statutory customs tariff for these medicines is a mere 5%, customs officials often act on personal discretion, arbitrarily accusing importers of “under-invoicing” and slapping them with massive, punitive penalties ranging from 28% to 32%. The government must clearly define “under-invoicing” and stop the systemic harassment of importers at customs, which artificially inflates the cost of healthcare in Nepal.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

3. Open the Doors for Contract Manufacturing<\/strong>\u00a0
Instead of just importing finished goods, Nepal needs to build its own resilience. MIAN proposes that the government open up “contract manufacturing”. This would allow foreign manufacturers (from India, the US, or Europe) to transfer their advanced technology and produce their branded medicines within local Nepali factories. This policy would ensure local factories run at full capacity, dramatically upskill Nepal’s technical workforce, and gradually reduce the nation’s heavy dependence on imported medicines.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

4. Criminalize the “Deal Bonus” System<\/strong>
To elevate the quality of medicines and reduce unnecessary costs, the government must strictly ban and criminalize the “deal bonus” practice. Currently, this system involves giving pharmacies extra free goods to push certain brands, which only benefits the pharmacy while compromising drug quality and offering zero benefits to the patient, the importer, or the producer. Eliminating this unhealthy practice will naturally force the market to compete on quality rather than kickbacks.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Conclusion<\/strong><\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

By shifting from reactive, panic-driven appeals to proactive, structurally sound policies, Nepal can build a resilient pharmaceutical supply chain that guarantees every citizen access to the medicines they desperately need. To effectively price different drugs and ensure their uninterrupted supply, Nepal must transition from its outdated fixed Maximum Retail Price (MRP) system to an automated, dynamic pricing model<\/strong>. Under this proposed system, drug prices would automatically adjust in response to global market realities, such as fluctuations in raw material costs or international exchange rates; if global production costs drop, the local price would decrease proportionally, and if they rise, the price would increase to prevent life-threatening shortages. Furthermore, for imported medicines, pricing can be intelligently regulated using a “Country of Origin” cap<\/strong>, which mandates that the MRP in Nepal must never exceed the officially approved retail price in the manufacturer’s home country. Are we ready for the automated dynamic pricing model? Or do we keep on fighting the drug shortages the same old way?<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Mr. Pawan Acharya President of Medicine Importers Association of Nepal (MIAN) The healthcare sector in Nepal recently faced a terrifying reality: an acute shortage of vital oncology injections like Cisplatin and Carboplatin. Driven by global conflicts, disrupted raw material supply chains, and skyrocketing costs, the crisis exposed the severe vulnerabilities of Nepal’s rigid drug pricing …<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":110,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"advanced_seo_description":"","jetpack_seo_html_title":"","jetpack_seo_noindex":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":true,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","default_image_id":0,"font":"","enabled":false},"version":2}},"categories":[39],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-9305","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","","category-feature"],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_likes_enabled":true,"jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/medicosnext.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/9305","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/medicosnext.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/medicosnext.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/medicosnext.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/110"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/medicosnext.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=9305"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/medicosnext.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/9305\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":9307,"href":"https:\/\/medicosnext.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/9305\/revisions\/9307"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/medicosnext.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=9305"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/medicosnext.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=9305"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/medicosnext.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=9305"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}