Pakistan has begun triggering emergency steps for the nation’s pharmaceutical requirements following the suspension of trade with India following the recent Pahalgam terror attack.
Pakistan Initiates Emergency Measures after Trade Suspension
In a report by Geo News, the Pakistani health officials have taken “emergency preparedness” steps to ensure pharmaceutical supplies as the government of the country suspended trade with its eastern neighbour following New Delhi’s move to suspend the Indus Waters Treaty.
According to the report, the trade suspension with India prompted “immediate action to ensure” drug requirements in Pakistan, and health officials have taken “emergency preparedness” steps to ensure the supplies.
The Drug Regulatory Authority of Pakistan (DRAP) stated that formally there has not been any such notification regarding how the ban affects the pharmaceutical industry. But Geo News was informed by a DRAP official that there are contingency plans in effect because of the crisis in 2019 in the wake of the Pulwama attack.
“Following the 2019 crisis, we had started preparing for such contingencies. We are now actively looking at alternative avenues to meet our pharmaceutical needs,” the report quoted the unnamed official as saying.
Pakistan’s Dependence on India for Pharma requirements
Pakistan depends on India for 30 to 40 per cent of its raw material used in the manufacture of medicines, such as Active Pharmaceutical Ingredients (API) and other advanced therapeutic products, PTI reported.
But the abrupt halt in trade with India means that this supply chain now remains disrupted. So DRAP is looking elsewhere from China, Russia, and a few European countries.
The agency has also worked to ensure the uninterrupted supply of critical medical products such as anti-rabies vaccine, anti-snake venom, cancer treatments, monoclonal antibodies, and other important biologicals.
Fears of Shortages despite Contingency Planning
Health experts and industry people have sounded an alarm, even as DRAP’s readiness provided some relief. As per experts, if nothing is done to regulate the impact of the suspension of trade immediately, it will pose a problem to the nation.
“Pakistan imports some 30%–40% of its pharmaceutical raw material from India. We also import finished products, most importantly, anti-cancer therapies, biological products, vaccines, and sera, especially anti-rabies vaccine and anti-snake venom from India,” Geo News quoted a senior official from the Ministry of National Health Services, Regulations and Coordination as saying.
The ministry of health has not yet been issued an official directive regarding the status of drug imports, even after the blanket announcement by the government to suspend all trade with India.
The pharmaceutical industry is concerned that cutting the supply chain would result in severe shortages.
The report further said that the matter is compounded by the fact that there is a thriving black market where unregistered and unapproved drugs are smuggled into Pakistan via Afghanistan, Iran, Dubai, and even over the eastern border.
