PPMA warns against ban on Indian drug imports

KARACHI: Pakistan Pharmaceutical Manufacturers’ Association (PPMA) has warned the federal government that any decision to discontinue import of raw material of medicines from India would weaken the country’s ability to fight the coronavirus.

PPMA representatives at a press conference appealed to the federal government that it should continue with the existing arrangements to import raw material for drugs from the neighboring country.

Syed Farooq Bukhari, PPMA senior vice chairman said import of pharmaceutical raw material from India or from any other country was done under a well-regulated regime being overseen by the Drug Regulatory Authority of Pakistan and other relevant state agencies.

“We are in a virtual state of war against COVID-19 whose cases have been on the rise in Pakistan, and the pharmaceutical industry is the backbone of the national apparatus put in place to fight the menace of coronavirus,” he added.

Bukhari said the vital inputs of the pharmaceutical industry should remain readily available to the drug manufacturers so there was no shortage of essential medicines in the country during the current health emergency.

“From the day one of the anti-coronavirus lockdown in the country, the pharmaceutical industry has been doing its best to continue with its production so that there is no shortage of medicines during the on-going health crisis,” he said.

Pakistan, in August 2019, suspended all bilateral trade with India. However the government later allowed imports of therapeutic drugs of Indian origin.

Bukhari said there was also the chance of emergence of a black market of medicines if the regular import of raw material from India was discontinued.