ISLAMABAD : Feb 7,2023; Pakistan may have an unprecedented crisis of life-saving drugs as its top pharma companies have conveyed to the federal government that devaluation of the rupee and some other related factors have created a catastrophic situation for pharmaceutical industry to compel it to declare force majeure and shut down its manufacturing units indefinitely after a week .
In separate letters addressed to the concerned authorities of the ministry of Health Services and Drug Regulatory Authority (DRAP) Pakistan ‘s top pharma companies including Searle Pakistan and Medi Flow have informed to the concerned authorities of the federal government that pharma industry will not be able to maintain manufacturing , supply and distribution of life+saving drugs after one week.
The SoS of the pharma companies contains full details of the factors which have pushed Pakistan’s pharma industry close to a complete collapse . The SoS said pharma industry of Pakistan is a victim of a number of serious problems like continuous devaluation of the rupee
since 2020, rising input cost of raw materials and the government’s indifference towards it.
The pharma industry’s SoS said it gave a number of calls to the federal government about the factors which were pushing the manufacturers of life -saving drugs to a serious crisis like situation for the last more than two years but these calls remained unattended.
The SoS added that the pharma industry despite quick surge in the prices of its inputs played a pivotal role for maintaining supply of life-saving drugs in the market, but with huge devaluation in the value of the rupee in recent times and the increase in US dollar it hace become impossible for the manufacturers of the life-saving drugs to absorb more financial losses and keep producing the life saving drugs in the market .
The pharma industry maintained in its SoS that the government should direct the State Bank of Pakistan (SBP) to allow opening or letter of credits (LCs) for import of raw material used for manufacturing of life-saving drugs and also grant increase in their prices to adjust inflationary impact forth with.
Noor Mahar , President Pakistan Lawyers Pharmacists Forum (PLPF) was when contacted for his comments said the pharma industry’s SoS was an urgent call to the federal government to take immediate remedial measures to avert otherwise imminent crisis of life- saving drugs in Pakistan. Mr Noor Mahar said as PLPF president he fully supports the demands of the pharma industry and calls upon the prime minister and other concerned policy makers to take demands of the pharma industry seriously to avert looming crisis of medicines in Pakistan.
