Life-saving drugs become 15% costlier after coronavirus lockdown

• People worried as basic medicines, including life-saving drugs, have became at least 15% more expensive after coronavirus lockdown.
• Consumers have appealed to the PTI government to control the inflation rate lest the inability to afford them leads to deaths.
• According to the PCDA, DRAP and PTI govt have already given approval for an increase in drug prices in line with the consumer price index.

KARACHI: Basic medicines, including life-saving drugs, have become at least 15% more expensive after the coronavirus lockdown, leaving people worried due to affordability issues.

To gauge the situation, Geo News visited Karachi's wholesale medicine market — the largest in Pakistan — to speak to shopkeepers and buyers.

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Vendors at Karachi's wholesale medicine market, where people from all over the country come to buy medicines, say every pharmaceutical company increased prices of its medicines by at least 15% after the coronavirus lockdown.

Consumers are worried due to the price surge as they are forced to buy basic medicines, including life-saving drugs, which have become more expensive. People have, therefore, appealed to the PTI government to control the inflation rate lest the inability to afford medicines leads to their deaths.

Also read: 'Illegal' Indian medicines worth millions recovered from Karachi warehouse

According to the Pakistan Chemists & Druggists Association (PCDA), the Drug Regulatory Authority of Pakistan (DRAP) and the PTI regime have already given approval to pharmaceutical companies to increase drug prices in line with the consumer price index.