Life-saving drugs made costlier
#inflationinpakistan #medicine #bakhabarsavera
Transcript
00:00 Before going on the break, we told you that now there is a danger that the life-saving drugs may be at risk.
00:08 Because they have not been able to avoid inflation.
00:10 They are becoming expensive.
00:11 Heart, blood pressure and other diseases like cancer have increased in their price of medicines.
00:19 And the new drugs include injections, pills, syrups.
00:23 Drug Regulatory Authority has issued a notification of the highest prices of new drugs.
00:31 According to this, the new registered price of cancer medicines is Rs 8,46,857.
00:38 And the price of inhalers is Rs 13,90.
00:42 The price of hepatitis injections is Rs 10,275.
00:46 The price of malaria medicines is Rs 1,700.
00:48 So, medicines are also... They say that we should keep children away from the reach of their parents.
00:54 And now they are keeping the elderly away from the reach of their parents.
00:57 They are keeping the patients away from the reach of their parents.
00:58 Yes, keeping the patients away from the reach of their parents.
01:00 Death is getting closer and closer.
01:02 But living and dying is expensive these days.
01:05 There are problems everywhere.
01:06 And the job of the state and the government is to provide relief to the people in some way or the other.
01:12 But if you go to the medical store to buy a headache medicine, you will know how much the rates have increased.
01:18 Okay, the people are now protesting this too.
01:21 Let's see what the people are saying about these rising prices.
01:24 The medicines that used to cost Rs 300-400 are now costing Rs 700-800.
01:29 Take medicines or take home food or pay rent.
01:32 Nothing is happening right now.
01:34 The prices have increased so much.
01:35 If the customer pays Rs 300 tax on a medicine that costs Rs 2,000, what will he do?
01:42 I think the medicine that costs Rs 15,000 or Rs 10,000 is a free medicine.
01:45 The medicine for cancer was Rs 1 lakh, now it is Rs 2.5 lakh.
01:50 First, people are dying.
01:51 After that, the medicine that people have to take has become expensive.
01:56 All the medicines that were available have now become 40-50% expensive.
02:01 The poor man who used to take medicine for a week has now come for two days.
02:06 Earlier, the medicine that cost Rs 1,000 for a week is now costing Rs 2,500 for a week.
02:12 The total salary is Rs 15,000.
02:13 Take your medicines, feed your children. What are you doing?
02:16 I have come to take my family's medicine.
02:18 The medicine that used to cost Rs 500 has now cost Rs 1,500.
02:20 Now I feel like committing suicide.
02:22 Okay, so this is one issue.
02:27 The second issue is that if we talk about Peshawar, the life-saving medicines have become inoperative.
02:34 Cancer, sugar, hemorrhagic fever, blood pressure and kidney stones,
02:38 dozens of medicines are not available.
02:40 The citizens are worried about this and are selling them at double the price in black.
02:45 So you can see the connection, right?
02:47 Being a layman and then getting double the price in black.
02:49 Who can do it?
02:50 Mafias are everywhere.
02:51 Zafar Iqbal is telling us more about this.
02:53 Yes, just like the whole country, the government of Peshawar has more than 40 medicines
03:03 that are inoperative or not available in the market.
03:09 We are at a medicine shop on LRH Road and will ask the owner here
03:14 what are the medicines that have become inoperative here?
03:18 All the common medicines in Peshawar are short.
03:21 For example, for epilepsy, which is very important,
03:24 if the patient does not eat even for a day, he faces a lot of difficulties.
03:29 In addition to this, the medicine that is needed for the birth of children,
03:35 the drops that come, are very important, that is also short.
03:37 It has been 5 months and where it is available, it is sold in black.
03:41 Similarly, there are many other medicines like Tegrel, Sezonil, Teril,
03:45 all these are short, they work in the brain.
03:48 In addition to this, there is Cardnet, which is also short.
03:51 For heart patients, there is Co-Plivex, which is also completely short, not available.
03:56 If you go to the market, if someone has it, they sell it in black.
03:59 There is Cytotrexate, which is short for a long time.
04:03 If it comes, it comes very little, then it becomes short in the market.
04:07 As he said, most of the medicines in them are used in mental or neurological diseases
04:14 or heart diseases, which are both very severe diseases.
04:18 There are medicines to be used in that.
04:20 People who used to use regular medicines, they cannot use regular medicines now.
04:25 And most of the patients, whom we talked to,
04:28 they are forced to leave for a day and take medicine for a day,
04:31 because the prices of medicines have also increased.
04:35 That is, where there is a problem related to the public,
04:38 we are seeing how they are being troubled.
04:40 Problems are created where there are people.
04:42 Problems are created there and also the problems are created there.
04:44 Those who do not go through this themselves, of course, they have those resources,
04:48 they have income, but a common man who is earning 25,000, 30,000,
04:54 and most of the time, at least 32,000, but still there are many classes
04:58 whose 32,000 have not yet been increased.
05:01 So what should such people do? Where should they go? How to survive?
05:04 Where there are so many bills, where should they go?
05:10 Okay, now we were talking about medicines related to Larkana.
05:13 In Larkana, the anti-malaria government tablets of the Ministry of Health
05:17 are being sold in the medical stores.
05:20 And the patients suffering from malaria are forced to buy it at high prices from the medical stores.
05:27 So why is this happening?
05:29 Babu Iqbal, who is with us from Larkana, is trying to find out the situation from him.
05:33 Babu Iqbal, tell us, these should be available for free,
05:36 and now they are also being sold here, these tablets, in the medical stores.
05:41 What is this?
05:42 There was a team that was doing a survey,
05:45 and they got a complaint that these anti-malaria tablets are being sold in the market.
05:51 So when I saw that, there were two medical stores there,
05:55 where they were selling a 3-day dose for Rs. 700, and for Rs. 900.
06:04 And people were buying it without hesitation,
06:06 because there are a lot of patients suffering from malaria.
06:10 And this is the one that says "Not for sale".
06:13 They were selling it despite that, and they said that they buy it and bring it.
06:19 There are wholesale shops here, they are wholesalers.
06:22 Not just one, but there are many wholesalers who have it.
06:26 Now, obviously, this anti-malaria tablet, which has come from abroad as a donation,
06:33 is international, and it has a lot of effects.
06:36 So these medicines that came in the donation, are being sold in the stores?
06:41 Yes, they are being sold, and there is no notice from the government,
06:45 from the health department, there is no such thing,
06:49 that they should be asked, or inquired, that where did you buy it,
06:53 and who gave it to you, and why are you selling it, when it is written on it, "Not for sale".
06:58 Not for sale.
07:00 And how much they are doing it, there is no idea.
07:02 They will say that our national language is Urdu,
07:05 it is written in English, not in Urdu.
07:07 So we can do whatever we want.
07:08 So, first of all, the government medicines that are free of cost,
07:12 are being sold here, and the medicines that have come in the donation,
07:14 Obviously, a lot of things came in the bag during the flood. That is also being sold in these stores.