The Pakistan Medical Association (PMA) Saturday warned that the country is likely to face a shortage of medicines due to the non-opening of letters of credit (LCs) for the import of active pharmaceutical ingredients (APIs) or raw materials.
Through a press release on Saturday, the doctors’ representative body was expressing its concerns over the statement of the Pakistan Pharmaceutical Manufacturers Association (PPMA) that the State Bank of Pakistan (SBP) has verbally conveyed to all local banks not to open LCs due to shortage of dollars.
“If LCs are not opened soon, it may result in medicine shortages because most of the pharmaceutical companies have only two months’ raw material available with them and they are unable to place orders for the raw material for the future,” PMA Secretary-General Dr Abdul Ghafoor Shoro said in a statement.
“If suitable measures are not taken to avoid shortage of medicine in upcoming days, we are scared that situation will lead to black marketing and smuggling and eventually the prices of the medicine will go beyond the reach of the poor people,” he said.
The PMA has requested that the government take the necessary actions right away in order to avert any unpleasant situations and preserve lives.
The local pharmaceutical industry, according to Malik Arshad Awan, a PPMA spokesman, is entirely dependent on imported raw materials, and the drastic devaluation of the rupee has already driven up the cost of production.
“Since LCs are not being opened, the situation will get worse. We implore the authorities to look into the situation and deal with it as soon as possible,” he stated.
“The situation is going to become worst as LCs are not being opened. We urge the government to look into the issue and address it at the earliest,” he said.
