The Drug Regulatory Authority of Pakistan (DRAP) has issued a warning indicating that the ongoing tensions with Iran may disrupt the global medicine supply and impact their availability within the country.
DRAP has advised pharmaceutical companies to minimise dependence on a single supplier for the raw materials utilised in the production of medicines.
According to the advisory, companies are required to source raw materials and packaging from multiple suppliers.
They are also instructed to maintain sufficient buffer stocks of both raw materials and finished products.
DRAP advises pharmaceutical companies to assess supply risks
The regulator emphasised that additional medicine inventory should be preserved to address potential delays in shipping or other unexpected situations.
Pharmaceutical companies have been further advised to routinely evaluate possible supply risks, develop alternative strategies, monitor product distribution, and accurately project future demand.
DRAP has also mandated that companies prioritise medicine supply to government institutions.
The authority stated that effective monitoring will be implemented to prevent hoarding, black market activities, and artificial shortages.
Both federal and provincial governments have been instructed to ensure the complete execution of these directives.
DRAP bans tampered medicines
Earlier, ten widely recognised medications, including those that are life-saving, available in Punjab, were identified as defective.
The Drug Regulatory Authority of Pakistan (DRAP) enacted an immediate prohibition on certain batches of the affected medications.
As per reports, samples of these medications were dispatched to a drug testing laboratory for analysis, where the findings indicated that the quality of ten medications was alarmingly poor.
The substandard medications include those used for treating allergies, heart ailments, skin infections, colds, and eye conditions.
Read more: DRAP bans ten tampered medicines, including life-saving drugs
