110 deaths daily in Pakistan: Experts advocate Zinc supplementation as Diarrhea remedy

KARACHI: Diarrhea causes deaths of around 110 children everyday in Pakistan whose lives can be saved by using inexpensive pharmaceutical interventions including administration of Zinc along with Oral Rehydrating Solutions (ORS), leading health experts and officials said on Thursday.

They said thousands of lives of children were saved in the flood-affected areas of Sindh and Balochistan last year when they were given Zinc supplements along with Oral Rehydrating Solutions (ORS), saying as per World Health Organization (WHO) guidelines, Zinc supplementation improves the diarrheal treatment.

Lauding the production of Zinc products at World Health Organization (WHO) prequalified plant of local pharmaceutical firm PharmEvo in Pakistan, they said Pakistan could not only save lives of thousands of children by giving them WHO prequalified nutritional supplements but also save precious foreign exchange by buying these products from the local market.

“Production of two Zinc products by the local pharmaceutical firm PharmEvo at their World Health Organization (WHO) prequalified plant is a great achievement for the Pakistani pharmaceutical industry. Now instead of importing these products by spending valuable foreign exchange, we can purchase them from our local company and use them to save lives of children, who die due to diarrhea on daily basis,” Iftikhar Shalwani, Federal Secretary Health told a ceremony celebrating WHO prequalification by local pharmaceutical firm PharmEvo.

Addressing the event titled “Importance of Zinc in Human Health and WHO Prequalification”, jointly organized by Ministry of National Health Services, Regulations and Coordination in collaboration with local pharmaceutical firm PharmEvo, Secretary Health Iftikhar Shalwani praised Pakistani pharmaceutical industry for their role in control and treatment of diseases, saying these companies played an important role in management of COVID-19 pandemic in the country.

“And now two more Pakistani pharmaceutical products are being manufactured at WHO prequalified plant, for which PharmEvo, Drug Regulatory Authority of Pakistan (DRAP) Chief Asim Rauf and all officials deserve praise and congratulations,” Iftikhar Shallwani added.

Director General Health Dr Baseer Achakzai said Zinc products given to children in flood affected areas of Sindh and Balochistan saved lives of thousands of lives as it is an important intervention that not only prevents and treats diarrhea but it also helps in overcoming malnutrition among children.

“Last year, I distributed thousands of bottles and packs of Zinc products to the flood-affected areas of Balochistan as well as Sindh which saved lives of thousands of children who would have died if they were not given Zinc and Oral Rehydrating Solutions”, Dr Baseer Achakzai said and lauded PharmEvo for acquiring WHO prequalification for their Zinc products.

He maintained that international donor organizations including Unicef and others purchase Zinc and other nutritional products from other countries but after WHO prequalification, Zinc products can be produced from the local companies.

“I would also urge local pharmaceutical companies to start producing TB, BIV and cancer medicines locally as we have to buy medicines worth US$200 million to US$300 million from other countries of the world. If these drugs are produced locally, this money would be spent for the country’s economic uplift,” he suggested and called for enhanced collaboration between industry and academia in this regard.

Praising the local pharmaceutical industry for producing medicines of international standards and quality, DRAP Chief Executive Officer Asim Rauf said Pakistan exported medicines and therapeutic goods worth US$713 million last year and added that now their target is to export pharmaceutical products worth US$1 billion.

“WHO prequalification of pharmaceutical plant for Zinc products is a giant leap and it would add to our pharmaceutical exports. We are also giving incentives on local production of medicines’ raw material, which will also decrease our dependence on imported API and reduce our import bill,” Asim Rauf added.

Vice Chancellor, Health Services Academy (HSA) Prof Shehzad Ali Khan said diarrhea is the second leading cause of death among children less than five years of age but added that half of the deaths due to diarrhea in children are reported from Pakistan, India and Nigeria.

“Majority of deaths due to diarrhea are preventable by administration of Zinc, ORS and fluid maintenance. It is encouraging that two Zinc products by the PharmEvo are being manufactured at WHO prequalified manufacturing facility,” Prof Khan said. He also called for linkages between academia and linkages between Pharma industry and appropriate utilization of Central Research Fund (CRF) of DRAP for research and development in the Pharma sector.

Managing Director PharmEvo, Haroon Qasim said they were striving for the realization of their dream of a healthy society in Pakistan and acquiring WHO prequalification for two of their products was another step in that direction. “We have never obliged anybody personally and used our resources of the capacity building, research and development as best manufacturing practices,” he added.

Chief of Party US Pharmacopeia Waqar Ahmed, Chairman Pakistan Pharmaceutical Manufacturers Association (PPMA) Farooq Bukhari, Chief Operating Officer (COO) PharmEvo Nadeem Rehmat, Shehzad Afzal from the Nutrition International, Abdus Samad from PharmEvo and others from DRAP and pharmaceutical industry also spoke.

Copyright Business Recorder, 2023