Pakistan is reportedly grappling with a severe shortage of more than 100 essential medicines, including life-saving drugs used to treat cancer, heart disease and other serious illnesses, as delays in government approval of revised drug prices continue to disrupt supplies.
The prolonged shortage has also raised concerns about the growing risk of counterfeit and substandard medicines entering the market, with industry representatives warning that desperate patients may increasingly turn to unreliable sources when genuine medicines are unavailable, according to a Dawn report.
The issue stems from a delay in approving revised prices for 105 medicines classified under the "hardship category."
More than two years ago, the Drug Regulatory Authority of Pakistan (Drap) recommended price revisions after concluding that rising production costs had made manufacturing several essential medicines commercially unviable. However, the proposals are still awaiting approval from the federal cabinet.
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As per Drap, manufacturers are dealing with rising bills for imported raw materials, packaging, electricity, transportation, labour, financing, plus even the depreciation of the Pakistani rupee. Because of this, several pharmaceutical companies have either cut back production or simply stopped making a few medicines altogether.
Abdul Samad Buddani, who is a representative of the Pakistan Chemists and Druggists Association (PCDA), said that 105 medicines are now missing or in critically short supply.
Among them, oral morphine capsules for severe cancer pain, streptokinase injections for heart attack patients, chemotherapy drugs like cisplatin, carboplatin and doxorubicin, paediatric digoxin liquid, pilocarpine eye drops, the yellow fever vaccine, folic acid tablets and several immunoglobulin products.
Buddani warned that prolonged shortages of genuine medicines create an opportunity for counterfeiters to exploit the market.
"When authentic medicines disappear from the market, patients become desperate and often turn to unreliable sources. That increases the risk of counterfeit and substandard medicines entering the supply chain, particularly expensive cancer medicines and other life-saving drugs," he was quoted as saying.
Pharmaceutical manufacturers say the way prices are set just doesn't work anymore. Companies can't keep making medicines if they're losing money on every batch.
Industry leaders are now pushing the government to stop dragging its feet and make decisions quickly; otherwise, shortages will just keep getting worse.
One top official from the Pakistan Pharmaceutical Manufacturers' Association pointed out that governments keep putting off actions on medicines hit hardest by these price issues, even though Drap's Drug Pricing Committee has already made recommendations. The delays are piling up, and it's hurting the supply chain.
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