Drug importers have been forced to stop importing most of the foreign medicines owing to massive depreciation of Pakistani rupee against the US dollar and are of the view that imported drugs have now become too expensive to earn profit in local market.
According to drug market sources, dollar value against Pakistani currency during 2018-19 witnessed an increase of 50 percent while the government is not allowing increase in prices of imported drugs.
Since 2018-19, Pak rupee exchange rate against dollar has gone up from Rs 106 to around Rs 155 while prices of imported drugs are not revised and as a result, importers have stopped importing some medicines. Moreover, almost 40 percent imported drugs in Pakistan are coming from India and Indian companies are not willing to sell their products to Pakistanis. Resultantly, import of these drugs from other markets such as Germany puts additional costs on Pakistani buyers, they added. An official of Drug Regulatory Authority of Pakistan (DRAP) said that presently, drug inspectors have intensified checking of unregistered medicines being sold at pharmacies/chemists. Due to this exercise, shopkeepers have stopped keeping unregistered imported medicines which are smuggled into the country.
A senior official of Pakistan Pharmaceutical Manufacturing Association (PPMA) told Business Recorder that Pakistan at present is not only facing serious shortage of cancer related medicines but supply of drugs being used for the treatment of other diseases is also short owing to government policies and rupee depreciation. For example, imported vaccines for flu and rabies and Furolin, an imported medicine to treat urinary tract infection, are not available in market.
The prices of injections used for CT scan contrast and MRI contrast have been increased from Rs 1,650-2,000 to Rs 4,500 and above. Similarly, import of Nutraceuticals Skin Active skincare products has almost been stopped.
The official said that local drug manufacturers are also facing serious problems owing to regular increase in gas/electricity prices and other input costs including labor. However, the government wants them to sell the products at fixed rates. The PPMA official said that globally up to 105-110 molecules' prices are regulated and rest of the product prices are left on the market forces, while in Pakistan prices of each and every product is regulated.
Copyright Business Recorder, 2019
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