Shortage of life saving medicines

District level government hospitals in Khyber Pukhtunkhwa are short of injections for the treatment of dogs and snakes bite although the purchase of these injections had been approved by the Medicine Coordination Council. The apparent reason for not purchasing them may be the non-release of allocated funds from the finance department to the health department. Deaths of people from dogs and snake bites have been reported in the print and electronic media.

Technical knowhow and infrastructure for the preparation of all types’ vaccines and injections is available in the National Health Laboratories Islamabad. But there is lack of political well to prioritize vaccines and injections preparations within the country for achieving self-reliance. How long Pakistan will remain dependent on the World Health Organisation for the provision of vaccines for preventive healthcare and injections for the treatment of fatal diseases?

Ironically, successive governments had not facilitated setting up raw material industry for pharmaceutical products. The national firms had to import raw materials from India at relatively cheaper rates as compared with the ones imported from western countries. Suspension of trade with India has disturbed the supply source of raw material for locally produced medicines. Drug Regulatory Authority of Pakistan frequently makes abnormal delays for registering lifesaving medicines. All these factors create dearth of medicines and vaccines.