Pakistan faces shortage of cancer, diabetes and heart drugs as dollars dry up

Pharmacists arrange medicines at a pharmacy shop in Peshawar, Pakistan, on September 1, 2021. (AFP/File)

• Novartis Pakistan confirms anti-cancer drugs are not available in market due to import ban imposed by government
• Distributors say local medicines to treat epilepsy and other diseases are also short due to unavailability of raw material

ISLAMABAD: Pakistan is facing an acute shortage of life-saving drugs needed to treat cancer, diabetes, epilepsy and heart conditions, confirmed doctors, patients and distributors on Thursday, saying the absence of these medicines from local market was putting thousands of lives at risk.
The shortage was observed across the country in recent weeks after the State Bank of Pakistan (SBP) slapped an unannounced ban on the import of raw material used by drug manufacturing firms to preserve foreign currency reserves that hit $4.6 billion – sufficient to cover only about three weeks of imports.
“The insulin is short in the market and diabetic people like me are running from pillar to post to get it,” Abdul Rehman, a 22-year-old man, told Arab News.
“A black market has emerged due to this shortage where people have to pay double the price for these medicines to get them in very limited quantity,” he continued, urging the government to at least ensure the availability of life-saving drugs in the market.
Likewise, some essential medicines for the treatment of cancer and heart conditions are also not available.
“Hundreds of cancer and heart patients daily visit us for medicines, but we suggest them alternatives due to an acute shortage,” Jahanzeb, a representative of CHEF International distribution company who did not share his surname, told Arab News.
He said almost all drugs for the treatment of cancer and heart conditions were imported for domestic consumption, adding they remained in short supply due to the import ban.
Jahanzeb said injections like Adriblastina, Cisplatin and Carpsol were essential for cancer treatment but they were no longer available in market.
He also informed that some essential locally manufactured drugs like Tegral, used to treat epilepsy, were also short in short supply since pharmaceutical companies were not allowed to import raw material.
A representative of BH Distributors, Waseem, said some drugs to treat blood cancer, such as Gleevec and Tasigna, were also not available and patients were “forced to consume low-quality alternatives.”
Rizwan Iqbal, a representative at Novartis Pakistan, which imports Gleevec and Tasigna medicines, confirmed the drugs were not available in market due to “the government’s ban on import.”
“We are hopeful these crucial drugs will become available to patients in Pakistan in the first week of February if the government allows us to import,” he told Arab News. “At the moment, we don’t have any shipments available for distribution.”
The government on the other hand appears oblivious to the situation as no concrete measure is on the cards of the health ministry to ensure the availability of these medicines.
“I am not aware of it,” Dr. Shazia Sobia, a parliamentary secretary for National Health Services, Regulations and Coordination, told Arab News. “The minister may have discussed the situation with the finance ministry or taken up the issue in the cabinet meeting.”
Pakistan’s health minister Abdul Qadir Patel did not return calls to present the official perspective on the issue until the filing of this report.
“The situation is getting graver by the day as the lives of thousands of patients across Pakistan are at risk due to the shortage of medicines,” Dr. Abdul Ghafoor Shoro, secretary-general of the Pakistan Medical Association, told Arab News.
“The government should open the import of medicines and raw material for local manufacturing on priority to avert a health crisis in the country,” he added.