Ijaz Kakakhel Islamabad
Minister of State for Law and Justice Shahadat Awan on Tuesday admitted before members of Upper House of Parliament that there is shortage of some medicines due to LCs (letter of credit) restriction; however, the federal government has notified a decrease in prices of 20 essential medicines in January, 2023. Minister of State for Law Shahadat Awan said that due to financial crunch, there are restrictions over opening LCs which resulted in shortage of raw material used for manufacturing of medicines.
Responding to a Calling Attention Notice raised by Professor Dr Mehr Taj Roghani about the increase in prices of medicines, medical instruments and vaccines in the country, the minister said that the federal minister for National Health Abdul Qadir Patel should be appreciated for providing relief to the people. He said that the country’s witnessed a continuous increase in the prices of medicines during the period of 2018 to 2022 before the inception of the incumbent government.
He went on to say that after the Cabinet meeting, nine percent hike was made in the prices of 464 medicines in 2018 and 94 medicines in 2020 while prices of eight medicines were enhanced in 2021. The minister said that pharmaceutical companies have also requested that if raw materials for medicines were not released, it might face problems.
Earlier, raising the Calling Attention Notice, Dr Mehra Taj pointed out the non-availability of drugs besides skyrocketing prices of it. She claimed that there are 40 times increase in medicines prices, non-availability of drugs is another big problem. Most of these medicines wer not-available in the market due to LC restrictions. She also questioned why the Health Card was closed in Punjab because it relate to poor people.
Meanwhile, the House rejected the adjournment motion of Mohsin Aziz about the deteriorating economy, the lowest level of foreign reserves and continuous inflation. Some 25 senators voted against it while 19 supported it. He said that the government could not decrease her expenditures and put more burden on poor.
However, Minister Shahadat Awan said that the matter is already discussed on 26th January. I oppose it and non-admissible for discussion.
