Stakeholders identify causes of acute shortage of essential drugs

LAHORE: Rising cost of production due to the devaluation of the rupee, inflation, and increased utility tariffs have been identified as causes contributing to a severe shortage of essential and life-saving medicines in the country by stakeholders 
Key drugs have disappeared from wholesale markets and pharmacies across major cities, including Lahore, putting the health and lives of countless patients at risk.
More than 50 percent of the medicines on the World Health Organization's (WHO) list of essential drugs are either unavailable or scarcely found in the market. 
A recent survey revealed that vital medicines such as Metronidazole, Chloroquine, Tegral, insulin injections, anti-tuberculosis drugs, and Heparin injections are among those currently unavailable.
The Pakistan Pharmaceutical Manufacturers Association (PPMA) central Chairman Mian Khalid Misbah-ur-Rehman says that despite these pressures, essential medicine prices have remained unchanged, resulting in very low profit margins for manufacturers. In some instances, the cost of production now surpasses retail price, he adds.
“Patients with heart disease, diabetes, cancer, and epilepsy are among the worst affected,” Mr Rehman says, adding, “Unreasonably low prices lead to shortages, hoarding, and the illegal sale of these medicines at exorbitant rates.”
He also warned of the risk posed by unregistered, smuggled, or counterfeit drugs flooding the market due to the scarcity of legitimate products, calling for an urgent revision of drug prices to enable manufacturers, distributors, and retailers to maintain sustainable profit margins.
He demanded immediate implementation of the 2018 Drug Pricing Policy to address the ongoing crisis in the pharmaceutical industry, urging authorities to rationalise annual price revisions on essential medicines. “This situation is not only a crisis for the industry but also for the health of the nation,” he concluded.