The government and political parties are inundated in their self-imposed battle for the “PM-ship” and have neglected some critical issues that needed urgent attention. Such has been the case of drug availability in Pakistan. The sorry state of affair has already brought the Pharmaceutical industry to the point, where it is no longer producing medicines, such as Bromocriptine (Parlodel) which is important for treating patients with high Prolactin levels in the blood. Polycystic Ovarian Syndrome, infertility, Prolactinoma, conditions where growth hormone is overproduced, such as Acromegaly and Parkinson’s disease where it provides relief. This drug has also been approved by the FDA to treat type 2 diabetes.
The only pharmaceutical company which was manufacturing and marketing the product is no longer producing it and patients suffering from the above mentioned diseases are running from one pharmacy to another to obtain it. Moreover, what increases the misery is the fact that there is no alternative medicine available for this drug in the market. The quality of life has deteriorated in Pakistan but at least the government can ensure the availability of drugs, be they life saving or not. If they cannot ensure such simple things, I would say they should all resign, including the PM and CM, as they promised what they could not deliver.
DURDANA KHURSHID,
Karachi, August 22.