The government is to draw up a national roadmap to ensure an uninterrupted supply of medicines in emergencies and crises and to protect the sector by reducing its dependence on imports. It has also decided to ensure minimum stocks of the main medicines. The Directorate General of Health Services (DGHS) will draft the framework, including a provision for maintaining a minimum buffer stock of emergency medicines.
The decision was taken at a recent meeting of the National Drug Advisory Council chaired by Health and Family Welfare Minister Sardar Md Sakhawat Hossain, according to sources concerned.
People in the sector consider the initiative timely for making the drug supply chain stronger and keeping it free of crises as the country’s demand grows.
The meeting was told that although local drug makers meet about 98% of domestic demand, more than 90% of active pharmaceutical ingredients (APIs) and basic raw materials have to be imported. To cut that dependence, the government has also planned to bring the Gazaria API industrial park into operation quickly.
The council also decided to update the country’s essential medicines list in line with present healthcare needs. A committee has been formed for this, headed by Prof Dr FM Siddiqui, vice-chancellor of Bangladesh Medical University, with the director general of the Directorate General of Drug Administration as member secretary.
The meeting also reviewed the strengthening of regulatory capacity in the drug sector and the attainment of Maturity Level 3 (ML-3) under the World Health Organization’s Global Benchmarking Tool. It recommended building domestic capacity for bio-equivalence studies, setting up a central medicine laboratory and strengthening cooperation between drug companies and educational institutions to raise the standard of research and testing.
The proposed plan is expected to serve as an effective framework for ensuring the supply of essential medicines in pandemics, natural disasters, geopolitical crises and other emergencies.
Abdul Muktadir, president of the Bangladesh Association of Pharmaceutical Industries (BAPI), set out the gap between the country’s strong manufacturing capacity and its dependence on imported raw materials. He said local production now meets about 98% of demand, but more than 90% of APIs and key raw materials depend on imports.
He sought quick policy support and intervention from the government to remove weaknesses in the supply chain, and proposed drawing up a priority list of 20 to 30 essential APIs for local production.
He also said members from BAPI should be included in the new committee.
He said dependence on imports for APIs and key raw materials has made the sector vulnerable despite its strong local manufacturing capacity, and that local capacity could be increased by identifying a priority list of 20 to 30 APIs. It has also been decided to set up a gas line and a coal-fired power plant with the industry’s own funds to ensure power supply and make the Gazaria API industrial park operational. He also drew attention to the long time it takes to obtain permission from the Department of Narcotics Control and asked for the process to be made easier.
According to the Bangladesh API and Intermediate Manufacturers Association (BAIMA), Bangladesh now imports about 90% of its APIs, at a cost of more than $1 billion a year in foreign exchange. BAIMA said that increasing local API production would reduce dependence on imports, save foreign exchange and protect the drug industry from global supply chain crises and swings in raw material prices. Citing the experience of China and India, it said a strong domestic API industry could become an export-oriented sector in future.
Drug exports, meanwhile, are rising steadily. According to the Export Promotion Bureau (EPB), drug exports reached $238.5 million in the 2025-26 financial year, five and a half times the $44.2 million of 2010-11.
Sources in BAPI and BAIMA said greater policy support for the API sector would create knowledge-based jobs for young and educated people and strengthen Bangladesh’s position in the global pharmaceutical value chain.
Zakir Ahmed Chowdhury, chairman of the pharmacy department at Dhaka University, advised bringing in experts from abroad if needed, alongside local experts, to get the API industry fully running. He called strongly for adequate funds and equipment for universities’ research and for a modern central medicine laboratory.
Mohammad Alamgir Hossain, director general of the Directorate General of Drug Administration, told the meeting it was essential to prepare a national emergency medicine supply contingency plan under the DGHS and to set a minimum buffer stock. He favoured forming a new committee of specialist doctors and university representatives on the model of the task force formed under the interim government.
He said 187 of the 211 sub-indicators for Maturity Level 3 of the WHO Global Benchmarking Tool had been completed, and called for staff to be recruited quickly to meet the rest.
Health Minister Sardar Sakhawat Hossain told the meeting that a list of 117 medicines for primary health care had been drawn up in 1998. In view of various decisions taken in January and August this year and the long time that has passed, he called for the essential medicines list to be updated in line with present treatment methods and the kinds of patients seen.
বাংলায় মূল প্রতিবেদন পড়ুন · Read the original Bengali report