Sindh province, including Karachi, has been grappling with a severe shortage of essential life-saving medicines over the past few months, creating a growing health crisis.
According to sources, vaccines for critical conditions such as kidney disease, hepatitis A, rubella, measles, and mumps have disappeared from pharmacies. In addition, vital treatments like tetanus immunoglobulin, crucial for preventing tetanus infections, and anti-rabies immunoglobulin, used to prevent rabies, are also unavailable.
Health experts are particularly concerned about the lack of tetanus immunoglobulin, highlighting that without timely vaccination, tetanus has a fatality rate of 30% to 40%. They stressed the equal importance of anti-rabies immunoglobulin in preventing rabies when combined with the rabies vaccine.
In a conversation with Private News Channel, Chairman of the Pakistan Pharmaceutical Manufacturers’ Association, Tauqeerul Haq, explained that while some medicines are being produced locally, issues surrounding imported drugs are yet to be resolved. He added that importers have raised concerns, submitting price adjustment requests to the authorities.
Importers have warned that unless the Drug Regulatory Authority of Pakistan (DRAP) addresses the pricing issue, they may be unable to continue importing these vital medicines. Hospital officials have confirmed the prolonged shortage of these life-saving medicines in government hospitals, worsening the healthcare crisis in the region.