Which illegal drug is being recovered most in raids across country?

ISLAMABAD: Despite being declared as an ‘illegal’ medicine in Pakistan, Sildenafil citrate which is used for the treatment of impotence, is the most common drug recovered during raids at pharmacies across Pakistan, officials said.

“Sildenafil citrate is the most common unregistered drug which is recovered during raids at medical stores from Karachi to Khyber. Commonly known as ‘Viagra’, its different brands are the most running items at pharmacies in the country. In many cases, no case is registered against the store owners if only Viagra or its different brands are recovered”, an official of the Drug Regulatory Authority of Pakistan (DRAP) told The News.

At the moment, federal and provincial drug inspectors are raiding pharmacies, medicine markets and warehouses across Pakistan in a drive against spurious and unregistered drugs as well as life-saving drugs which are being hoarded by the dealers but during every raid, the most common drug they find are the various smuggled brands of sildenafil citrate.

Sildenafil citrate was discovered by multinational pharmaceutical company Pfizer in 1989 while looking for a treatment for angina and very soon it became the revolutionary treatment for erectile dysfunction or impotence across the world. By 2020, Sildenafil citrate which is sold under the brand ‘Viagra’, was the 183rd most commonly prescribed medication in the United States, with more than 2 million prescriptions. According to pharmacists, Sildenafil is among the 300 most prescribed medicines in the world but Pakistan and Afghanistan are the only countries in the world, where it is not registered or has been declared illegal despite its widespread demand and use.

“Some 15 years back, the originator of this molecule i.e Pfizer tried to get this drug registered in Pakistan but the Registration Board of the Drug Regulatory Authority denied registration, claiming it an ‘Un-Islamic’ drug”, the DRAP official, who claimed anonymity, said and added that later several other attempts were made to get it registered but they failed too. The official said recently, that the DRAP has approved registration of Sildenafil citrate in syrup form for the children who are suffering from ‘pulmonary hypertension’ and hoped that if applied by the pharmaceutical companies, this product could be given registration if they complete all the requirements.

Officials in the provincial drug administration in Sindh said at the moment, Sildenfil citrate smuggled from India is the most commonly available drug which comes under the brand names of ‘Panagra’, ‘Cobra’ and ‘Vega’ while Pfizer’s Viagra manufactured in China, Turkey, Singapore and Thailand is also available at some selected pharmacies in Karachi.

They said it is so commonly available that drug inspectors don’t even register cases against the store owners for possessing and selling the drug, as its demand is extremely high due among diabetics, and people with other health conditions. “Instead of lodging cases against store owners, most of the drug inspectors gift the original Viagra to their friends, seniors and colleagues who are shy of going to medical stores and pharmacies to buy it”, an official of the Sindh’s Drug Control Administration claimed.