ISLAMABAD: The Drug Regulatory Authority of Pakistan (DRAP) has stated that there was no restriction on hospitals or the common man on importing vital medicines (anti-cancer drugs and vaccines) from India for their own use under the Import Policy Order 2022 after obtaining no objection certificate (NoC) from the authority, media reports said.
The DRAP officials stated this while talking to media on the issue of unavailability of several essential medicines in the country.
“In view of unavailability of some essential medicines in Pakistan, common people and hospitals can apply for an NoC to directly import medicines from India. Currently, there is no ban on import of any drug from India under the Import Policy Order 2022,” DRAP officials said.
It was learnt reliably that doctors from Sindh and other provinces had sent her a long list of medicines, including Heparin and other drugs used for the treatment of neurological, psychiatric illnesses, vaccines and different other biological products which were unavailable in Pakistan.
DRAP officials responded that the authority had launched a countrywide survey of unavailable medicines and asked their field force across the country to report all the important medicines not available at the healthcare facilities.
“A committee has been constituted by the DRAP, which has been assigned the task to monitor shortages of drugs in the market. The above committee is dealing with the issue on consistent and regular basis. Similarly, through an online application for NoC to DRAP, people and hospitals can import medicines from any country, including India, for personal use”.
Similarly, DRAP had also set up a complaint management cell for resolution of complaints on drugs shortage, it said, adding that the people facing such problems can call on DRAP’s helpline 0800-03727 and send an email to drugsshortages@dra.gov.pk. DRAP has also persuaded local manufacturers to produce eight medicines, which were previously not registered in Pakistan or were not available due to price escalation.
“DRAP has expeditiously processed the registration applications of those medicines, which are not unavailable in the market. Recently, medicines like Heparin, Isoflurane and Sevoflurane were registered on priority basis,” officials added.
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