Lahore grapples with medicine shortages as prices skyrocket

Lahore: In the provincial capital of Punjab, Lahore, a severe shortage of medicines has emerged, with more than 120 essential drugs out of stock across various medical stores.

Currently, Lahore is facing an acute scarcity of medicines used to treat heart conditions, hypertension, and blood clotting disorders.

Additionally, medications for diabetes, including various types of insulin, have become exceedingly rare.

Medications for Parkinson's disease, stroke, epilepsy, and amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS) have vanished from the market.

Even the medicine "HepaMerz," crucial for hepatitis patients, is nowhere to be found.

Infection-fighting drugs, diarrhea medications, cough syrups, liver medicines, and medications for surgical procedures are also missing from the market.

Furthermore, medical stores lack items like wound creams, including Polifix and Povidone, used for wounds, and Polifix for burns.

Pharmaceutical companies attribute the crisis to a surge in the dollar rate, making raw materials significantly more expensive.

They assert that selling medicines at the prescribed rates set by the Drug Regulatory Authority (DRA) has become unfeasible. They call for price hikes and adjustments to stabilize the situation.