Medicines worth Rs160m handed over to Afghanistan

KARACHI: Pakistani drug manufacturers have handed over medicines and medical supplies worth Rs160 million to Afghan authorities at a ceremony held in Islamabad and pledged to continue donating medicines in the months to come. It has been reported that more Pakistani pharmaceutical companies are willing to donate medical supplies for the people of Afghanistan.

“We handed over 10 trucks loaded with medicines worth Rs160 million to the Charge d’Affairs of Afghan Embassy in Islamabad Sardar Ahmed Khan Shakeeb at a ceremony the other day in Islamabad. Pakistani drug manufacturers will provide more medical supplies as donations are still pouring in from various companies,” Qazi Mansoor Dilawar, Chairman of the Pakistan Pharmaceutical Manufacturers Association (PPMA), said while talking to The News on Friday. Public Health Minister of Afghanistan Dr Qalandar Ibaad had urged the Pakistani pharmaceutical companies to donate medicines and medical supplies to Afghanistan last month and had provided a list of 160 medicines and medical equipment they needed to keep their health facilities functional after many healthcare professionals left the country following the US pullout and foreign aid was also stopped.

PPMA Chairman Qazi Mansoor Dilawar said they had apprised the Special Assistant to Prime Minister (SAPM) Dr Faisal Sultan of the donation. Sultan had appreciated their efforts and now they had handed over the medicines loaded on trucks to the Afghan government officials in Islamabad for dispatching them to Kabul.

He maintained that they were hoping to collect medicines worth Rs100 million but an overwhelming response was received from the pharmaceutical companies, which donated medicines and supplies worth Rs160 million to Afghanistan while more supplies would be handed over to Afghan officials.

Earlier in Karachi, the public health minister of Afghanistan urged Pakistani pharmaceutical manufacturers to establish their manufacturing plants in Afghanistan’s different cities, saying there would be zero duties and taxes on manufacturing in Afghanistan while the law and order situation is now conducive in the neighboring country.

“At a reception hosted by PPMA the other day, Afghanistan’s Public Health Minister Dr Qalanadar Ibaad offered Pakistani drug manufacturers to establish their medicine manufacturing units in Afghanistan where they would be enjoying tax relaxations and other incentives,” PPMA Vice President Atif Iqbal told The News.

He said the Afghan public health minister was of the opinion that from Afghanistan, Pakistani drug manufacturers could export their medicines to Central Asian States while Afghanistan was now an emerging market for Pakistan medicine manufacturers, whose products were quite familiar to the Afghan people.

“We have requested the Afghan health minister to ensure smooth transfer of medicines to Afghanistan as officials on the border use delaying tactics in allowing medicines to cross the border into Afghanistan. He has assured us that steps were being taken to facilitate the Pakistani medicine companies”, Atif Iqbal added.