Punjab faces life-saving drugs' shortage as pharmaceuticals halt production

Lahore: Punjab is facing shortage of at least 40 life-saving drugs including fever medicine, while drugs prices have shot up by over 21%, ARY News reported.

The pharmaceuticals manufacturers Association has said that the production has been halted due to higher production cost and sales tax.

According to details, patients are facing severe difficulties as the province faces shortage of dozens of life-saving drugs including fever. The medicine are not available at private or government dispensaries.

On the other hand the Drug Regulatory Authority has not been able to control the prices of medicine as the prices have shot up by over 21%.

Medicines for mental stress, joint pain, asthma, cancer are nowhere to be found in the market while heart attack preventing, lung infection, blood thinners are also short in the market.

Additionally, Diabetes, Stomach burn, Blood pressure control, and Hepatitis medicines are also among the drugs short in the market.

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Pharmaceutical Manufacturers Association has said that the production cost has gone up due to the newly applied sales tax. The production has bene halted and cannot be started until the prices are raised or the production cost is cut, they said.