K-P faces insulin shortage

Medical stores create artificial shortage amid reports of 40% hike in rates

PESHAWAR:

The drug stores in Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa (K-P) are witnessing a shortage of insulin, which is causing great difficulties for diabetic patients.

Official sources told The Express Tribune that an artificial shortage had been created by hoarders after the proposed 40 per cent increase in the prices of insulin.

“Insulin is not available even for the patients registered with the K-P Health Department under ‘insulin for life programme’ which is why people are forced to search for it in hospitals and markets,” the sources said.

He said that it is available in the black market at high inflated prices without drawing any attention from the government.

Even the health department and provincial drug cell is helpless in controlling the situation.

“The provincial government has failed in purchasing medicines, especially insulin, as a result of which for the past one month, insulin has not been provided to the patients registered under insulin for life programme,” he added.

Diabetes cases have been on the rise in the province like the rest of the country but the number of registered patients with the health department is still smaller as compared to the overall patients.

People demanded of the government to ensure the availability of insulin at affordable rates in the province.

When contacted, an official of the health department said that medicines could not be purchased due to non-availability of funds but now the government had approved Rs360 million for the purchase of medicines.

“After the availability of funds, medicines are being procured and supply to districts has also been started,” he added.

Background

The prevalence of diabetes in Pakistan has increased significantly as 33 million adults are now living with diabetes with an increase of 70 per cent, according to the International Diabetes Federation (IDF).

The report, ranking the world’s top countries for a number of adults (20–79 years) with diabetes in 2021, has put Pakistan in third place with a total of 33 million, after China (141 million) and India (74 million).

One in four adults (26.7%) in Pakistan is living with diabetes - the highest national prevalence in the world, the report claimed, adding that an additional 11 million adults in Pakistan have Impaired Glucose Tolerance (IGT), which places them at a high risk of developing type II diabetes.

Meanwhile, more than a quarter (26.9%) of adults living with diabetes in Pakistan remains undiagnosed, which means that undetected or inadequately treated diabetic people are at a risk of serious life-threatening complications such as heart attack, stroke, kidney failure, blindness, and lower-limb amputation.

These factors result in poor quality of life and higher healthcare costs, the report added.

The IDF said that 537 million adults are now living with diabetes worldwide - a rise of 16% or 74 million since the previous IDF estimates in 2019.

Published in The Express Tribune, December 11^th, 2022.