ISLAMABAD: Pakistan Pharmaceutical Manufacturers Association Chairman Syed Farooq Bukhari has said that the industry has stopped importing molecules – the raw material for medicines – that will lead to 50 percent drop in the supply of medicines in the market in a few weeks.
He said that PPMA has written a letter to Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif, urging him to act immediately, avert a public health crisis and allow a price adjustment to enable the sector to continue producing standard life-saving medicines. He further said that the country was already facing a medicine shortage.
Bukhari said that if the problems impacting the medicine industry are not resolved, 50 percent of the 1,300 molecules used will end in a few weeks.
Medicine supply situation
He said that the industry had sent a summary of more than 400 hardship cases to the authorities six months ago but it did not receive any response. The pricing was done at Rs 235 per dollar.
The letter sent to the prime minister showed a worrisome situation in the industry. It said that thousands of critical medicines are unavailable. Patients are compelled to buy smuggled or potentially counterfeit drugs at very high prices.
It added that the industry is on the verge of collapse. There has been a 45 percent increase in the cost of raw materials in the country since July 2022.
