I suggest that the government must withdraw customs duties and sales tax on import of medical apparatus.
KARACHI: Recently, the prime minister rightly expressed his resolve to provide better facilities in the social sector to the common people. In the last few decades, the condition of our social sector has worsened. Apart from corruption, one of the main reasons for this is rising medical expenses due to inflation, and also because the equipment in government hospitals is often inoperative or there is a lack of trained professionals to operate the equipment. Therefore, an ordinary person often turns to private hospitals for better service although the charges there are phenomenally high. Even then, most private hospitals have outdated equipment.
One of the major reasons for not keeping new equipment in private hospitals are the numerous taxes on import of new healthcare equipment, which prompts the private sector to go for second-hand machinery. Therefore, I suggest that the government must withdraw customs duties and sales tax on import of medical apparatus. Among total imports, the ratio of import of medical apparatus is almost negligible and the government would hardly lose any revenue by waiving off taxes on them.
M Asif
Published in The Express Tribune, January 7th, 2014.
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