This is insane. All the raw materials/chemicals used in “locally made” medicines are imported from overseas anyway. If the ban applies to that as well, Pakistanis will soon start dying of the common cold.
http://dailytimes.com.pk/default.asp?page=2006\02\11\story_11-2-2006_pg1_5
Saturday, February 11, 2006
Pakistan won’t import drugs from Europe, minister tells Senate
By Zulfiqar Ghuman
ISLAMABAD: Pakistan will not import medicines from Denmark and other European countries to protest the publication of the caricatures of Prophet Muhammad (peace be upon him) in their newspapers, Federal Health Minister Muhammad Nasir Khan told the Senate on Friday.
This is for the first time that a minister officially announced ban on the import of any product from countries that hurt the religious sentiments of Muslims. “Muslims from Morocco to Indonesia are hurt. We cannot accept this nonsense,” the minister responded to a query put by Kamil Ali Agha.
He admitted that some big pharmaceutical companies had bribed doctors to prescribe their medicines. He said that some chemists were involved in selling expired medicines. “The government is aware of these problems. We are working to check the entry of medical representatives in government hospitals, control adulteration and stop the sale of outdated medicines,” he said. However, the minister claimed that there had been no increase in drug prices for the last four years. He said that the local pharmaceutical industry had progressed well and was meeting more than 80 percent needs of medicines. He added that the local production was just 20 percent of the total consumption a few years ago.
Khan rejected the claim that imported medicines were far better than local medicines. However, he admitted that such a perception existed and people prefer costly imported medicines. “People need to be educated about this wrong perception. Most of our medicines are of good quality as compared to Indian drugs,” he claimed. The minister said Pakistan imported medicines worth $304.571 million during 2004 and 2005. He said the government had approved a new 10-storey hospital building for Karachi. He said he would inform the house on Monday about the audit report of accounts of the Jinnah Postgraduate Medical Centre in Karachi.