Lack of local raw materials blamed for high prices of drugs

KARACHI:

Caretaker Health Minister of Sindh, Dr Saad Khalid has said that only four chemicals are produced locally for the manufacture of medicines, the rest of the raw materials are imported, said the Caretaker Health Minister Dr Saad Khalid.

Despite inflation, the prices of medicines have not been increased according to the market, due to which, “We are facing medicine shortage which are being sold at high prices, but we are taking steps to eliminate the black market of medicines.” These views were expressed by Dr. Saad Niaz while answering questions after receiving the supplies from WHO and handing them over to Rescue 1122 at EPI Centre.

Fire at hospital

Regarding a recent fire incident in the Sindh Government Hospital, Liaquatabad, the minister said that our hospitals do not have adequate firefighting arrangements, which is alarming.

Ordinary people, present in the hospital at the time of fire, were running instead of making efforts to douse the flames due to lack of training.

In the fire incident at Liaquatabad Government Hospital, there were four people whose burns were 100 per cent or 60 per cent, the families of the injured requested us to transfer the injured to the burns ward of Patel Hospital. The minister suggested the World Health Organization to create its own accountability system to ensure that supplies are used in the right place.

 

Published in The Express Tribune, February 16^th, 2024.