PM takes notice of life-savings drugs' shortage

Islamabad: Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif has taken notice of the shortage of life-saving drugs in the country, ARY News reported.

According to details, the Drug Regulatory Authority of Pakistan (DRAP) has ordered the federal and provincial drug officials to submit a report regarding the shortage of life-saving drugs in the country.

The DRAP committee has written a letter to the provincial and federal authorities demanding an explanation about the shortage of 60% of life-saving drugs in the country.

All the provincial and federal officials have been ordered to investigate the issue and present a report regarding the shortage. Medicines of psychological, mental, cardiac and others are short in the country.

The pharma industry says that medicine manufacturers have stopped production due to high production costs. The industry has demanded an increase in the prices of life-saving drugs.

Stocks of life-saving and essential drugs have vanished from the medicine markets in the country as the pharmaceutical sector has demanded an increase in the prices following a hike in manufacturing costs owing to an increase in the rate of the dollar, fuel prices, and other factors.

Also Read: Life-saving drugs vanish as Pharma sector demands hike in prices

Mansoor Dilawar further lamented that the government promised to eliminate refunds of Rs40 billion sales tax and one per cent invoice tax and blamed that their claims of billions of rupees of refunds have not materialized yet.