Karachi medicine market raided more than 250,000 fever tablets were recovered
Medicines include life saving antibiotics: Spokesperson Ministry of Health.
The Dr-ug Regulatory Authority of Pakistan DRAP raided Karachi Medicine Market & recovered more than 2 & a half lakh fever pills.
According to the spokesperson of the Ministry of Health an artificial shortage of fever pills was created in market due to hoarding. Drug inspectors of Sindh seized a shipment of fake medicines from Lahore.
Spokesperson of the Ministry of Health says that medicines include life-saving antibiotics.
It should be remembered that Chief Justice Peshawar High Court Qaiser Rashid Khan has ordered the DRAP authorities to ensure the supply of drugs used in fever in the market for 3 weeks.
Paracetamol raw material companies have assured to reduce price
Companies say they will supply paracetamol raw materials to local companies at a lower cost than imported materials.
Federal Health Minister Abdul Qadir Patel & paracetamol raw material manufacturing companies held a meeting in which paracetamol raw material manufacturing companies assured to reduce the price of raw material.
The companies say that they will supply parasetamol raw materials to local companies at lower cost than imported materials. On the other hand, local companies say that they have 3 billion rupees worth of paracetamol raw material.
In the meeting, the Federal Health Minister also announced the abolition of incentives on imported raw materials & said that the tariff on the imported raw materials of Parasita Mall will be re imposed.
Companies assured that Paracetamol will soon be available in abundance in the local market.
Why is fever drug Panadol rare in Pakistanb?
When Shafiq Ahmed suffering from fever arrived at a private hospital in Pakistan largest city Karachi doctor prescribed Panadol along with a syrup.
When Shafiq Ahmed went to the medical store adjacent to hospital to get the medicine he got the syrup but was told that Panadol was not available.
Shafiq Ahmed got Panadol from another medical store located some distance away but one pill cost him 10 rupees which was usually 3 to four rupees earlier.
According to Dr. Niaz who works in a private hospital he prescribes Panadol as a medicine for fever but there are other medicines that he prescribes for the treatment of fever but according to him name of Panadol has become so well known. That almost everyone knows that it is a fever medicine & sometimes they take this medicine themselves from medical store instead of going to the doctor for minor fever.
Panadol is considered a useful pill for fever in Pakistan. After rains mosquito breeding in the country and especially its use in dengue fever increases however at this time complaints of shortage of Panadol or its sale at high prices are common in Pakistan.
Various media sources have-been reporting about Panadol shortages or price hikes.
Federal government has also taken notice of this while according to the Ministry of Health news about the disappearance of Panadol in the country is misleading.
Where did the panadol go?
Several people associated with the pharmaceutical sector in Pakistan have confirmed that there is a shortage of Panadol in the market & its price is also high.
Arif Baloch, who works as a wholesaler in the field of medicine told the British news that at the moment this medicine is not available in large quantities & what is available is also being sold at high prices.
He said that a few weeks ago a pack of 100 Panadol tablets was available for Rs 350 then its price went up to Rs 500, which will increase to Rs 700 & now it is available for Rs 1000.
He said that now he does not get more than five boxes from the distributor.
Arif Baloch said that apart from Karachi, they also supply medicines on wholesale in some cities of Balochistan & demand has increased in both places but they are not able to fulfill the supply.
Dr. Khan Zaman who runs his clinic in Punjab Mianwali district said that he has not been getting Panadol for a long time. If you talk to the supplier they say that its supply has stopped.
He said that a pack of 100 tablets of Panadol which is available for 350 rupees now costs more than 1000 rupees due to which now they have started prescribing other medicines for patients instead of Panadol.'
Why has the demand for Panadol increased?
According to health experts and people associated with the sector about the increase in demand for Panadol in the country there has been a huge increase in its demand after the rise in dengue fever cases.
Experts say dengue cases are on the rise across the country & supply is less than the demand in such a large number.
What are the reasons for Panadol pill shortage in Pakistan?
Arif Baloch said that after the floods in Sindh and Balochistan incidence of dengue fever has increased a lot & the demand for it is high from there.
Health expert Dr. Salman said that Panadol is a brand name while many companies make fever medicine.
He said that the common man's problem is that the name of pinna doll is engraved on his tongue. Otherwise if Panadol is not available there are other fever medicines available.
He said that last year too there was a shortage due to the increase in dengue cases, but this year there has-been a huge increase in dengue fever cases after the floods, due to which there has+been a huge increase in the demand for Panadol.
He said that although there are many other medicines for fever people have a habit of asking only for Panadol.
Why is the production of Panadol reduced so much ?
Mansoor Dilawar chairman of the Pakistan Pharmaceutical Manufacturers Association, confirmed to the British news that the pill is in short supply due to the high cost of importing the salt used in it.
He said that Salt which used to be available at 600 rupees per kg is now available at 2400 rupees per kg.
Mansoor Dilawar said that 450 million pills are produced in the country on an annual basis government did not increase the price despite the request of the company that was making this drug to increase the price which has been causing losses to the company. & they have greatly reduced its production.
He said that actually Panadol is a brand name this pill is Paracetamol but it is better known as Panadol.
It should be noted that Panadol is manufactured in Pakistan by a foreign pharmaceutical company.
Along with local companies in Pakistan, foreign pharmaceutical companies also manufacture and supply dru-gs in the market.
Ayesha Tammy spokeswoman for the Pharma Bureau a representative organization of multinational pharmaceutical companies operating in Pakistan told British News that Panadol is a multinational company in Pakistan and it is producing this pill but they Confirmation is that this company is making much less than the production capacity of this tablet.
Explaining the reason for this Ayesha said that this company only makes Panadol and it has been facing loss in production and sales for a long time. In February this year, the regulatory body DRAP had called a meeting in which the proposal to increase the prices of medicines was given to the federal cabinet but this approval has not yet been received.
He said that not only Panadol is in short supply there is also less production of other drugs but Panadol is more discussed because its use is high & in these days when dengue fever cases have increased Usage also increases.
Ayesha Tammy said that 150 companies in Pakistan have license to manufacture Panadol but only 1 multinational company manufactures it. Drap never asked these companies why other than one company did not manufacture Panadol.
An attempt was made to contact the Federal Health Minister Qadir Patel in this regard but after not being able to contact him, his ministry was contacted & video clips of the press conference of the Health Minister the previous day were sent on his behalf. He talked about the shortage of medicines, especially Panadol.
According to the spokesperson of the Ministry of Health position given in the press conference is the position of the Minister while a written statement of the Ministry of Health was described by spokesperson as the written position on the matter.
Spokesman denied the disappearance of Panadol on social media describing it as misleading.
According to the spokesman Drug Regulatory Authority of Pakistan is committed to supply quality and standard medicines & the reports of stoppage of production of fever medicines are false baseless & contrary to facts.
According to the spokesperson production of various brands of paracetamol is going on in the country on a large scale & Ministry of Health and DRAP are continuously monitoring the situation.
Female Care Driving in Pakistan Public Opinion
According to the spokesman purpose of spreading false information is only to play with innocent lives & to benefit hoarders.
According to the spokesman life saving medicines & daily use medicines are easily available in all four provinces Gilgit Baltistan & Kashmir and medicines for dengue malaria fever diarrhoea headache cough are also easily available in flood situation.
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