The fear of medicine crisis is becoming serious as the State Bank of Pakistan’s (SBP) refuses to issue letters of credit that will ultimately trigger a medicine shortage. Local banks are not issuing the documents required for the import of raw material and medical devices due to dollar liquidity crunch.
Pharmaceutical manufacturers have warned the federal government if appropriate measures weren’t taken, life-saving drugs could vanish from the market. While the high prices of medicines are already a serious issue, the situation could get catastrophic if drugs are not readily available.
President of Pakistan Medical Association (Centre), Dr. Abdulaziz Maiman said that our health delivery system is already in shambles and shortage of medicines will take the situation from bad to worse. If suitable measures are not taken to avoid the shortage of medicine in the upcoming days, the situation will lead to black marketing and smuggling and eventually the prices of the medicine will go beyond the reach of the poor people of Pakistan.
PPMA demanded the government to take appropriate measures immediately to avoid any ugly situation and save the lives of innocent people of Pakistan. PPMA also said that the local pharma industry is fully reliant on imported raw materials, and the cost of manufacturing has already increased due to the massive rupee devaluation.
The State Bank of Pakistan’s (SBP) refusal to issue letters of credit isn’t just the cause of creating the scarcity of medicinal raw material but also a huge quantity of food items has been stuck on the port. At the Karachi Port, 250 containers of onion, approximately worth $2.107 million, 63 containers of ginger worth $816,480 and 104 containers of garlic worth $2.533 million are stuck. According to traders’ bodies this inordinate delay in timely clearance will lead to the multiplication of the cost of containers – terminal and shipping charges. The high cost of onion containers would have a serious negative impact on the common man, placing it beyond their purchasing power. If the situation isn’t addressed swiftly, it will lead to further deteriorating the food security situation in the country.
International companies have already stopped raw material supply to Pakistani entities. Indian raw material companies have put Pakistan on the default list.
Although the governor of the State Bank issued clear instructions not to stop LCs for oil and pharmaceutical imports, banks refused to comply. If appropriate steps are not done to prevent shortage of medicine in upcoming days, the scenario will encourage illegal selling and smuggling, which will ultimately drive up the cost of the medication beyond the means of the underprivileged.
