Pakistan’s Health Minister Syed Mustafa Kamal said on Tuesday there was no shortage of medicines in the country despite disruptions to shipping routes caused by the US-Israeli war on Iran, adding that he aimed to increase medicine stocks to six months.
Oil and cargo flow through the Strait of Hormuz have been widely disrupted following the war in the Middle East that started with the bombing of Iran late last month, which led to Tehran’s subsequent targeting of US interests and Gulf oil and civilian infrastructure.
Speaking to Arab News outside the National Assembly, Kamal clarified that Pakistan had three months worth of raw materials for producing medicines, adding there were no blockages in the import of these materials.
“Right now, we have got four months’ worth of stock, and we are increasing it to six months,” he said. “And 85 percent of medicines here in Pakistan which are being used are produced locally.”
He pointed out that 90 percent of the raw materials used in medicine production come from China to Pakistan, adding there were no disruptions in shipping supplies from there.
“So, we’ve got no issue so far as far as medicines are concerned,” he added. “There’s no emergency here in this country. Everything is … under control.”
The health minister assured that Pakistan would meet the demand and challenges of the medicine sector.
He said that no one could “increase even a single penny” on regulated medicine prices.
Kamal highlighted that authorities were continuously monitoring the prices of both regulated and deregulated medicines, adding there had been no price increases since the Middle East war began on Feb. 28.
On Sunday, the Drug Regulatory Authority of Pakistan (DRAP) dismissed reports of rising medicine prices, saying the supply of medicines and medical devices is “satisfactory” for the coming months.
DRAP had said it advised all manufacturers to implement contingency plans, adopt “multiple sourcing strategies” and “geographically diverse channels” to strengthen supply chain resilience.