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Pakistan runs short of life-saving drugs
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IANS | 27 Mar, 2023
The pricing policy of Drug Regularity Authority of Pakistan (DRAP) and
the depreciating rupee have caused extreme shortage of most imported and
critical medicines in Pakistan, media reports said on Monday.
"Due
to the extreme depreciation of Pakistani currency against the dollar
and controversial drug pricing policy of Drug Regularity Authority of
Pakistan (DRAP), their prices have risen manifold and it has become
economically unviable for importers to bring them on the existing prices
given by the DRAP," Abdul Mannan, a pharmacist and importer of
biological products said, The News reported.
Both public and
private healthcare facilities are facing a shortage of imported
vaccines, cancer therapies, fertility drugs and anaesthesia gases after
vendors stopped their supplies due to dollar-rupee disparity, medicines
suppliers and officials said.
At the moment, the most important
drug which is not being supplied to health facilities is Heparin, which
is a blood-thinning agent used after some cardiovascular procedures, The
News reported.
Similarly, some important anaesthetic gases like
isoflurane, sevoflurane as well as monoclonal antibodies for the
treatment of different types of cancers as well as fertility products
like human chronic gonadotropin (HCG) and human menopausal gonadotropin
(HMG) are also not being provided to health facilities due to
dollar-rupee disparity and pricing policy of the DRAP, they added.
Although
most of the oral medicines including syrups, tablets and injections are
produced locally, Pakistan imports most of the biological products
including all vaccines, anti-cancer medicines and therapies, hormones,
fertility medicines as well as other products from India, China, Russia,
European countries as well as the US, and Turkey, The News reported.
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| Customs Exchange Rates |
| Currency |
Import |
Export |
US Dollar
|
66.20
|
64.50 |
UK Pound
|
87.50
|
84.65 |
Euro
|
78.25
|
75.65 |
| Japanese
Yen |
58.85 |
56.85 |
| As on 13 Aug, 2022 |
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