Production of paracetamol products resume as government, pharmaceutical companies agree on prices

Pharmacists arrange medicines at a pharmacy shop in Peshawar on September 1, 2021. (AFP/FILE)
Short Url
Updated 26 October 2022
Follow

Production of paracetamol products resume as government, pharmaceutical companies agree on prices

  • GlaxoSmithKline, which manufactures much of Pakistan’s paracetamol range, recently announced to suspend production of the drug
  • Pakistan Pharmaceutical Manufacturers’ Association welcomes the agreement while saying the new prices were still below production cost

KARACHI: Pakistan’s finance ministry said on Wednesday production of paracetamol products had resumed in the country after an agreement on their reduced prices was reached between the government and pharmaceutical industry. 

GlaxoSmithKline (GSK), a multinational company that manufactures most of Pakistan’s paracetamol products, announced to suspend their production earlier this month while blaming its decision on the government’s failure to rationalize the rates. 

Health experts in Pakistan were alarmed by the shortage of paracetamol products in the market amid growing cases of dengue, malaria and other water-borne diseases in the wake of the recent floods that displaced over 33 million people. 

“Federal Finance Minister Senator Mohammad Ishaq Dar in a meeting with heads of main pharmaceutical companies discussed the retail price of paracetamol products,” the ministry announced on Twitter. “The pharma industry agreed upon the reduced prices of paracetamol 500mg tablet at Rs. 2.35, paracetamol extra 500 mg at Rs. 2.75 and Syrup at Rs. 117.6, which is almost half of the price increase demanded by them. Production of paracetamol products has … started.” 

 

Chairman Pakistan Pharmaceutical Manufacturers’ Association Qazi Mansoor Dilawar said he welcomed the “timely decision,” though the revised rates still did not fully cover the production cost. 

“We welcome the government’s decision, though it has agreed to increase half of what was demanded,” he told Arab News. “Our actual cost is still Rs2.50, but given a dengue and malaria outbreak in the country, the manufacturers agreed.” 

Dilawar added the government had promised to increase the prices once the economic situation of the country got better. 

He confirmed that GSK had resumed its production. 

“The company is producing up to 80 percent of paracetamol and its suspension can severely affect healthcare in Pakistan,” he continued. 

The GSK chief executive, Farhan Muhammad Haroon, noted in a recent letter written to the principal secretary to Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif that “manufacturing of the Panadol range on negative margins” was unsustainable. 

He said the drug manufacturer was declaring force majeure regarding the production of Panadol tablet and liquid range. 


UN Security Council calls on states to help Pakistan bring Balochistan attackers to justice

Updated 7 sec ago
Follow

UN Security Council calls on states to help Pakistan bring Balochistan attackers to justice

  • Security officials say counterterrorism operations have killed 197 separatist militants over three days
  • Security Council calls such acts of militant violence criminal and unjustifiable, regardless of motivation

ISLAMABAD: The United Nations Security Council on Tuesday condemned coordinated attacks in Pakistan’s southwestern province of Balochistan, urging all countries to actively cooperate with Islamabad in bringing the perpetrators to justice, as security officials said 197 separatist militants had been killed in counterterrorism operations over the past three days.

The attacks, claimed by the Balochistan Liberation Army (BLA), targeted security installations and government facilities across multiple districts in the province, killing more than 50 people, including 22 members of the security forces, Pakistani authorities said.

Pakistan has repeatedly accused BLA militants of acting as “Indian proxies” and receiving logistical support from Afghanistan, allegations that both New Delhi and Kabul deny.

“The members of the Security Council condemned in the strongest terms the heinous and cowardly terrorist attacks across multiple locations in Balochistan province, Pakistan, on 31st January 2026,” the Council said in a statement circulated by its president, James Kariuki.

“The members of the Security Council underlined the need to hold perpetrators, organizers, financiers and sponsors of these reprehensible acts of terrorism accountable and bring them to justice,” it said. “They urged all States, in accordance with their obligations under international law and relevant Security Council resolutions, to cooperate actively with the Government of Pakistan in this regard.”

The statement said the attacks resulted in the deaths of Pakistani nationals, among them five women and three children.

“The members of the Security Council expressed their deepest sympathy and condolences to the families of the victims and to the Government and the people of Pakistan, and wished a speedy and full recovery to those who were injured,” it added.

A Pakistani security official, speaking on condition of anonymity, said “follow-up and sanitization operations against these terrorists are still ongoing,” adding that 36 Baloch civilians had also “fallen victim to the barbarity of these terrorists.”

He also confirmed the exact death toll on both sides, saying 36 “Baloch citizens who have fallen victim to the barbarity of these terrorists.”

The Council reiterated that such acts of militant violence are criminal and unjustifiable regardless of motivation.

Pakistan is currently serving as a non-permanent Security Council member for the 2025-26 term.