Over 50% of WHO-listed lifesaving medicines unavailable

Stakeholders call for action as shortages, hoarding, and black-market sales surge

LAHORE:

A significant number of essential and lifesaving drugs have disappeared from markets across Pakistan, jeopardising the health and lives of patients. These critical medicines are unavailable in both wholesale markets and retail outlets, including leading pharmacy chains in Lahore and other cities.

Estimates suggest that more than 50% of drugs on the World Health Organisation's (WHO) essential medicines list are either unavailable or extremely scarce. Key missing drugs include Metronidazole, Entamizole, Quinine bi Sulphate, Chloroquine, Tegral, Humulin Injection, Vitamin K Injection, narcotic analgesics, Thyroxine, Codeine-based cough syrups, Hydrocortisone injections, anti-tuberculosis preparations, Novomix insulin, and Heparin injections.

Various stakeholders cite multiple reasons for the shortage of these critical medications, urging the government to take immediate action in the interest of public health.

"Devaluation of the rupee, inflation, wage increases, and high electricity and gas tariffs have caused unprecedented rises in input costs," said Mian Khalid Misbahur Rehman, Central Chairman of the Pakistan Pharmaceutical Manufacturers Association (PPMA). "Unlike other products, the price of essential drugs remain unchanged, resulting in little to no profit margin for many medicines. In some cases, input costs exceed the retail price."

Rehman highlighted the impact on patients with heart conditions, diabetes, cancer, and epilepsy, all of whom are suffering due to the unavailability of these medicines. He also pointed out that lower-than reasonable prices lead to shortages, hoarding, and black-market sales at inflated rates.

"Patients are at risk of consuming unregistered, smuggled, potentially spurious, and counterfeit drugs," the PPMA chairman warned, advocating for timely price revisions to offer realistic profit margins to manufacturers, dealers, wholesalers and retailers. He stressed the need to implement the Drug Pricing Policy 2018 in letter and spirit to save the local pharmaceutical industry from collapse.