Health minister denounces PTI “propaganda,” says ‘there is no shortage of paracetamol’

Abdul Qadir Patel responded to media allegations of a shortage of paracetamol in the country by calling the reports “PTI propaganda” and claiming that there was “no shortage” of medicine.

The minister announced at a press conference in Islamabad, saying, “Starting today, we will be cracking down on those who are creating and spreading bogus and counterfeit medications across the country” (Tuesday).

Moonis Elahi, a friend of the PTI, said that inflation-weary Pakistanis are now experiencing a shortage of Panadol and that the Shahbaz Sharif government has “no remedy” to people’s miseries, prompting the government to issue a clarification.

In a press conference with the head of Pakistan’s drug watchdog, Asim Rauf, PTI critic Ahmed Patel claimed that the party’s leadership “had no pain” for the flood victims and spread false information about a shortage of paracetamol to promote a specific brand of painkiller.

Because of “rumors spread by the PTI leadership,” he said, “people have started hoarding this medicine,” leading to a temporary shortage in some areas.

“The actual situation is that due to an increase in the number of dengue fever cases, and a growing demand of medicines in the flood-affected areas and other factors, the leading brand of paracetamol is under stress.”

Patel said that federal and provincial drug inspectors were keeping an eye on the situation every day and submitting reports to headquarters every evening and that DRAP had dispatched several senior officers to Karachi to monitor the production of paracetamol, particularly the production of its leading brand.

He claimed that the PTI-led administration tripled the price of medicines during their term in office, raising the cost of 597 medications by an average of 179%.

In response to a question about a recent spike in the cost of Active Pharmaceutical Ingredient (API), Patel stated that, for the first time in Pakistan’s history, DRAP will be registering API and fixing its price to establish a more stable market for pharmaceuticals in the country.

I have ordered DRAP to begin the process of registering raw materials used in drug production in the same way that it registers finished pharmaceutical products. He also noted that this would assist in “fixing the actual prices of medications based on the cost of raw material utilized in the drug manufacturing process.

The federal health minister, in response to a question about the sale of generic medicines, said he supported such sales but that the pharmaceutical industry was strongly opposed to the idea because, according to them, most pharmacy owners in rural areas of the country lacked the literacy to dispense medicines properly using their generic names.