The shortage of pain relievers, such as Panadol, in the market has taken place at a terrible time, with rising demand for medicine, especially in flood-affected areas. Many widely-used over-the-counter pain relievers are no longer being produced by their local manufacturers. Due to the shortage, one must be extra wary of substandard and fake medicines.
The government should take action to prevent hoarding of medicines and illicit profiteering by black marketers. However, it needs to get the economics of the drugs market right if it wants to prevent similar crises in the future.
Syeda Haya Ali
Karachi