Imports of foreign drugs and 
local manufacturers

By Tahir Ali

The federal government’s decision to register medicines from China and Thailand for import to Pakistan has met with stiff opposition from the local pharmaceutical companies (LPCs) and the multinational companies (MPCs) operating in Pakistan.

“Manifold increases in the cost of raw and packaging materials, in freight due to oil price surge, in wages and cost of electricity and gas have already wreaked havoc with the local pharmaceutical industry. The decision to register more medicines from Thailand and China would serve as the last nail in its coffin,” said a source. There was no need to register these drugs, as these were manufactured locally and were available at affordable prices in the country.

“The decision would have negative repercussions for both LPCs and MPCs, but the former are likely to bear the brunt of the negative effects of their share in the total sales of Rs.107 billion last year, which was 52 per cent value-wise, while unit-wise it stood at 75 per cent,” he said.

He believed the local pharmaceutical industry had invested over $1.5 billion in expansion and there was a need to protect and encourage it.

“Despite the fact that 90 per cent Pakistanis use locally manufactured drugs, the government is bent upon destroying the local sector by allowing senseless imports of drugs” he further added.

Sources from the Pakistan Pharmaceutical Manufacturers Association (PPMA) and Pharma Bureau (PB), an association of multinational companies in Pakistan, said around 1,000 were granted registration in the 219th meeting of Drugs Registration Board (DRB), held on 19-20th August in Islamabad. They said the drugs included 850 drugs from China alone, out of which 540 are for human use and the rest for veterinary use.

PPMA strongly protested the move during the proceedings of the meeting. It brought the matter to the notice of Senate committee on health, which decided to convene a meeting of DRB in the presence of Senator Dr. Khattu Mal and Senator A. Haseeb Khan, along with chairman PPMA to review the matter. Federal Health Minister Ijaz Jhakrani reportedly termed the decision as irregular and mismanaged and ordered a probe into the issue. The matter however, still lingers on.

The chairman of PPMA, told this writer that it was a clear policy that products manufactured by more than four manufacturers locally will be discouraged for imports. “Only the products that are not manufactured in Pakistan (Biotech, Vaccines, Oncology etc.) or newly discovered or those in short supply will be imported. This too, after very stringent inspections of the facilities of the suppliers in accordance with WHO, GMP requirements, whereas many of the registrations have been granted in haste,” he said.

He thought China offered exorbitant rebates and other advantages on all exports and as such to compare prices will not be an apple to apple comparison. However, such permission for import of drugs at dumping prices will destroy the local Pharma industry (both Nationals and Multi Nationals), and open flood gates for inferior quality products in the country.

There are also voices that speak for the registration. The president of Chemist Association Mardan said the government should proceed on with the registration of the Chinese drugs. He said, “The import of the drugs would afford the people cheaper medicines-The Chinese version of Ripambicine 450mg costs Rs.160, while its local counterpart has a price of Rs.600. This will definitely bring prices of local drugs down which have gone up by 15 to 500 per cent in different cases.” It is not yet clear, as to whether the drugs to be registered and imported were life saving or general drugs, or whether their counterparts were either not available in the market or were costlier and substandard. Several attempts were made to contact the Vice Chairman of DRB, Suresh Kumar to get his opinion on the issues but in vain.

“The government should import medicines from countries that allow import of Pakistani drugs into its market. The government should allow import of only those drugs from these countries which were supplied to the developed world,” said a drug dealer.

Pakistan exports drugs to 29 countries. Export of drugs stood at $88.5 million, out of the total $17 billion of exports last year. These could be considerably increased, but on the contrary, import of unnecessary drugs is being allowed and encouraged.

The Drug Act 1976 in its chapter 2, article 4, sub-section 3 also stipulates that “subject to sub-sections (1) & (2), only such drugs shall be imported which are on sale in the market of any of the Western European countries, USA, Japan, Australia or any other country as may be prescribed.”   

Pakistan is one of the thirty five countries in the world which is self sufficient in medicines- its local industry meets over 90 per cent of its drug requirements. There are currently 682 pharmaceutical companies in Pakistan. These include manufacturers, importers and promoters. In the North Western Frontier Province (NWFP) there are over sixty pharmaceutical industries.

According to the website of the Ministry of Health (MoH), by December 2004, there were around 11,000 local and 655 imported human drugs in Pakistan. A source from PB however said there were 57,000 registered drugs in the country. He said he was in the dark on the number of imported registered drugs in Pakistan, as there was no data available on the issue. But it is generally believed that almost thirty per cent of the drugs traded in the country are foreign drugs. Their share could be bigger if the smuggled drugs from India and China are also included.

Drug market in every major city is reportedly replete with smuggled Indian and Chinese drugs. Karachi and Peshawar are believed to be the main hubs and supply centers for the rest of Pakistan. Lahore is the other main point from where medicine dealers buy these drugs. The poor prefer these drugs for being economical.