Pakistan's opposition slams Imran Khan's PTI govt as prices of life-saving medicines soar

Pakistan's opposition parties recently accused the Imran Khan-led-Pakistan Tehreek-i-Insaf (PTI) government of increasing prices of life-saving medicines once again amid the worsening COVID-19 situation in the nation. According to ANI, Pakistan Peoples Party (PPP) Leader Sherry Rehman slammed the ruling PTI government for again increasing the prices of life-saving drugs. She said that instead of providing relief in times of extreme inflation and high unemployment, the PTI government has hiked the prices of essential medicine by a whopping 150pc. 

“This is the 10th increase in medicine prices since 2018,” Sherry noted. 

Further, the PPP Senator went on to say that while other nations are making life-saving medicines free, the Imran Khan-led government, on the other hand, is busy playing politics during a national health crisis. She noted that last year, too “drap hiked the prices of 253 life-saving drugs by a massive 25 per cent to 35 per cent”. She said that it is alarming that there is no price regulating mechanism for medicines under this PTI government. 

COVID-19 situation in Pakistan 

According to ANI, a pharmacist has said that an injection that was priced at Rs 55,000 is being sold for Rs 400,000 in the black market. It is worth mentioning that the COVID-19 situation in Pakistan also seems to be worsening as the country has reported the highest single-day deaths since May. Pakistan has reported 141 new deaths in the last 24 hours, which is the highest number of fatalities recorded since May, while 4,199 fresh infections have been detected across the country. 

Currently, there are 91,204 active cases in the country, with 503 patients on ventilators. As per the news agency, with a rising number of deaths in the nation, the Pakistani health authorities may announce alternatives to Actemra which is given to critically ill COVID-19 patients. Meanwhile, a senior official of the Ministry of National Health Services said that Actemra had become short across the globe.

"We tried to get 1,000 vials of Actemra on Tuesday but even the company could not arrange the injection as the medicine has run short. We are now left with no option but to go for alternatives that have the same characteristics as Actemra," the official said, adding that, "but they are not allowed by the Drug Regulatory Authority of Pakistan (Drap) to administer to Covid-19 patients". 

(With inputs from ANI)