There is a danger of increasing the suicide rate due to an acute shortage of medicines in Pakistan, know the reason

Posted on 21st Jul 2022 by rohit kumar

Even after the fall of Imran Khan's government and Shahbaz Sharif's power in Pakistan, there has been no improvement in the condition of the country. After the skyrocketing prices of everyday items, there is a severe shortage of medicines in many cities of the country. Due to this, the fear of an increasing suicide rate in the country is being created. Pakistan media reports that the drug with which the urban market is struggling the most is lithium carbonate, which is the most effective drug in mental disorders and related diseases.

 

According to Pakistan media The News, a renowned psychiatrist and former president of the Pakistan Psychiatric Society (PPS), referring to the formulation that worked as the most effective drug for the treatment, said, “Anyone selling Lithium Carbonate since the last few months The brand is not available in the market. This medicine is considered to be the most effective medicine for mental disorders and diseases associated with it.

 

Epilepsy medicines are also not available

 

Similarly, some other essential drugs including methylphenidate for the treatment of attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) in children and clonazepam drops and tablets for epilepsy in children and adults are also not available anywhere in the market, the report said.

 

Several psychiatrists from the Pakistan Institute of Medical Sciences (PIMS), Shifa International Hospital Islamabad, and Mayo Hospital Lahore, as well as psychiatrists from Peshawar, confirmed that people are trying to find lithium carbonate for patients suffering from bipolar disorder. But none of its brands are available in the market.

 

Another senior pharmacist from Islamabad, Salwa Ahsan, said the lithium carbonate drug was not available across the country, the cost of raw materials had gone up and hence companies were no longer manufacturing them.

 

For which diseases there is a shortage of medicines

 

A list of available drugs with The News and a survey of several pharmacies in Karachi, Lahore, and Islamabad revealed that many vital drugs are not available to treat TB, epilepsy, Parkinson's disease, depression, heart disease, and others. Because pharmaceutical companies are not producing them due to an increase in the cost of production.

 

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