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The scarcity of the dollars in Pakistan is causing numerous problems for the country as now, citing an unprecedented increase in the cost of production, several local pharmaceutical companies have said it had become “completely unsustainable” for them to manufacture medicines and ensure their availability beyond the next seven days.
Around 10 leading pharmaceutical companies have given separate notices to the federal health ministry and the Drug Regulatory Authority of Pakistan (DRAP), claiming that they are going to stop the production of medicines after a week if prices are not increased immediately.
Local pharmaceutical industries are heavily dependent on the import of raw materials to ensure the uninterrupted availability of medicines in the country. Unfortunately, the industry has suffered a devastating blow as prices of the APIs i.e. raw materials used in the manufacturing of drugs increased exponentially in the international market since the outbreak of the COVID-19 pandemic.
The Pakistani rupee has devalued by approximately 26% against the dollar since July 2022, and has devalued by approximately Rs50 against the dollar since January 2023. Furthermore, the Consumer Price Index rose by 27.6% in the month of January 2023 compared to the same period last year.
The health ministry, however, has held out an assurance that the government would make sure there was no shortage of medicines in the country.
The shortage of greenback in the country has badly affected the imports, on which most of our sectors depend and the delay in the International Monetary Fund deal and the strict demands of the fund from the Pakistani authorities have created uncertainty.
The government needs to take notice of the matter and severity of the matter because already the prices of the medicines are high and many drugs are not available in the market and if the local pharma companies stop production, the situation can turn worst for the masses of the country.
