Healthy Skepticism Library item: 72

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Publication type: news

118 Essential medicines missing on the market: survey
Daily Dawn 2003 Sep 18

Full text:

As many as 118 brands of 33 essential medicines are not available on the market. This was revealed during a survey conducted by TheNetwork for Consumer Protection. The NGO said the results of an early survey complied in March this year were more or less the same which meant that these medicines were not available on the Market for at least six months. The survey has revealed that the missing medicines include the ones used for the treatment of chronic life-threatening diseases like blood pressure, heart ailments, diabetes, immune disorders, epilepsy parkinsonism, thyroid diseases, asthma and vomiting, besides different antibiotics.

It was also found that almost all missing medicines were available in the black market, TheNetwork said. The reason was said to be low prices of medicines and consequently low rate of profit which hardly had any attraction for pharmaceutical companies, many of them multinationals. They are produced less than the market demand to earn more by unfair means. Azhar Hussain, who conducted the survey, said alternative medicines were not being trusted by consumers because of doubts over their quality. He said alternative medicines in Sindh and Balochistan, in particular, were finding their way into the market after being smuggled from neighboring countries. Mr. Hussain said that the government was obliged under the Drug Act 1976 ri ensure an uninterrupted supply of all kinds of medicines. But, the government to take remedial measures without positive results so far. The medicines missing from the market include tablet Imuran, Lioresal, Adalat, Serenace (5 and 10mg), Yomesan, Neomercazol, Lanoxin, Angised, Aldomat, Deltacortril, Kemadrin and Maxolon, Ventolin nebuliser solution and inhaler, Injections Penidure LA, injection-tablet Marzine, Nilstat and Vagamycine creams and Syrup Dilantin.

APP ADDS: when a health ministry official was contacted regarding the drug shortage, he contradicted the claim. The director-general, health Maj-Gen Muhammad Aslam (retired) brushed aside any shortage of life saving drugs and said that sufficient stock of the reported missing drugs were available on the market. He said that besides these drugs, exactly similar substitute of life saving drugs are also available brands in the market. The ministry official said all the alternative brands of reportedly missing drugs are available in the market which negate the propaganda of missing drugs or any its shortage. The DG health said that all alternative drugs are produced under strict quality control procedures. He added that these drugs were produced by reputed national companies.

He said it was routine to hold meeting of Federal drugs inspector, druggist and chemist representatives to monitor the availability of all drugs including the life saving. He said that it could be possible that one drug store did not have the stock of some particular brand of life saving drug but it doesn’t mean that the drug is missing from the market. While the ministry claimed that available substitute of Thyroxin tab are Thyrotab Lanoxin tab substitute is Digoxin tab. Angised tab is Anginor tab. Isordil tab is Isobid, Isoket.