Indian drugs blocked by Pakistan government

Pakistan‘s commerce ministry was stalled ahead of an expected hike of up to 40 percent in the prices of life-saving drugs in the country.
Prime Minister Yousuf Raza Gilani has reportedly issued a direction that no drug produced in Pakistan should be imported. Gilani also sought justification for importing from India 13 vaccines and some oncology drugs that are currently not produced in Pakistan, sources told a news agency. Health Secretary Khushnood Lashari will meet Commerce Secretary Asif Shah to ensure that the proposal for importing Indian drugs is closed.

Commerce ministry had leaked information about the proposal to import Indian drugs to the local pharmaceutical industry, which used its "contacts" to pre-empt the move, the daily said, affect annual exports worth more than 120 million dollars and compromise the availability of medicines during emergencies. Pakistan‘s pharmaceutical industry is worth rs 83 billion and enjoys considerable political clout.
The health ministry’s advisory committee on drug prices has recommended a 10 to 40 percent increase in prices of various life-saving drugs, 20 to 25 percent across-the-board increase but the proposal was earlier rejected.