Life-saving drugs vanish from the market as production costs rise

Essential and life-saving drugs and vaccines have started disappearing from the market after national and multinational pharmaceutical companies stopped their production and import into Pakistan due to rupee’s devaluation of against US dollar, The News learnt on Thursday.

Hundreds of national and multinational companies manufacture thousands of medicines in the country, but all their raw material is imported from overseas, while almost all the vaccines are imported from India, China and Europe.

However, drug manufacturers and importers have been hit hard due to the devaluation of rupee, which has increased their cost of production, but they are not allowed to increase prices on their own.

The Drug Regulatory Authority of Pakistan registers local and imported drugs and vaccines as well as sets their prices after the approval of the federal cabinet and then the prime minister.“Hundreds of medicines are not available in the market right now,” said Abdus Samad Budhani, a leading drug distributor. “These include all types of vaccines, including those for flu, typhoid, hepatitis and many other diseases.”

Budhani said dollar has increased up to 35 per cent against rupee, which in turn increased the import prices of many vaccines, but as the importers are not allowed to increase prices on their own, they have stopped importing these vaccines, as they cannot continue to sell them on the rates approved prior to rupee’s devaluation.

“Many essential drugs, including those for treating tuberculosis, neurological disorders, psychiatric illnesses, cancer and other conditions, are also not being manufactured by multinational companies due to the increase in prices of raw materials.”

Dr Munir Afzal, an assistant professor of neurology, said that some drugs for treating neurological disorders are not available in the market, adding that their local alternatives are still being produced here, but they might not be available for long unless the entire drug price structure is revised.

Other physicians and consultants also confirmed that many important drugs, especially those manufactured by multinational companies for treating skin-related and other ailments, are not available.

They said patients are quite baffled in this scenario, in which the drugs of certain brands that they have been using for several years and trust are not available to them any more.

The Pakistan Pharmaceutical Manufacturers Association (PPMA), the representative body of local drug manufacturers, had announced last week that if drug prices are not revised within a week, they will review them on their own. They expressed surprise that the federal government has not taken any decision to ensure the availability of local and imported drugs.

“Right now drugs for the treatment of cancer and TB are not available because they are imported. How can an importer bring a medicine in for Rs100 and then sell it for Rs50?” said PPMA Chairman Zahid Saeed.

Lamenting that the health authorities seemingly do not care for the thousands of patients suffering from different types of cancers, TB and other deadly diseases, Saeed said patients are moving from pillar to post for these drugs but they are not available due to the pricing issue.

“Similar is the situation with regard to locally produced drugs, as the prices of their raw material have increased due to rupee’s devaluation and now it is becoming impossible for local manufacturers to produce drugs on the existing prices.”

Patients’ choices in Karachi and other cities of the country are limited, as many essential, behind-the-counter and even over-the-counter drugs are vanishing, and the only answer they get is that “these drugs are short”.

Budhani said patients are suffering, and the availability of some drugs is a matter of life and death for many of them. “The authorities will have to take this matter seriously or it can turn into a major public health issue in the days to come.”