KARACHI: Local pharmaceutical firm PharmEvo, which in July became the first company globally to receive World Health Organization (WHO) prequalification to produce zinc syrup, is now poised to take on the global stage with exports from Pakistan, a top official at the company said this week.

Diarrhea causes the deaths of around 110 children every day in Pakistan, lives that can be saved by using inexpensive pharmaceutical interventions including the administration of zinc along with Oral Rehydrating Solutions (ORS). The WHO says zinc supplementation has been shown to reduce the duration and severity of diarrhea, and to prevent subsequent episodes, although the mechanisms by which zinc exerts its anti-diarrheal effect are not fully understood.

Haroon Qassim, Managing Director of PharmEvo, said the recognition and certification from WHO to produce zinc tablets and syrup would help the company grow its global footprints through exports. The qualification helps donor agencies preselect companies and source pharmaceutical products from them.

“It has been a blessing that PharmEvo has pre-qualified for WHO certification, and we are the number one company in the world to qualify for zinc tablet and zinc suspension [syrup],” Qassim told Arab News late on Wednesday on the sidelines of an event to mark the receipt of prequalification from the WHO.

“There is no other company in the world which has pre-qualified for zinc suspension.”

The certification, according to the PharmEvo official, would serve as a “gateway” for pharmaceutical products manufactured in Pakistan to access international markets.

“WHO pre-qualification is an important certification for any company. WHO has global presence in the world and if you qualify for international standards, you have access to international markets as well,” Qassim said.

The export of pharmaceutical products from Pakistan is currently substantially low, with the exporting pharmaceutical products worth $328 million during the outgoing fiscal year. 

During the first three months of the current fiscal year, Pakistan fetched $27 million through the exports of pharmaceutical products, according to the bureau of statistics.

Dr. Fareed Iqbal Qureshi, secretary at the Trade Development Corporation of Pakistan (TDAP), the export promotion agency of the government, called the WHO certification an “important milestone” for the country.

“This would increase Pakistan’s pharmaceutical exports to many countries of the world,”  Qureshi said.

Assuring Pakistani pharmaceutical companies of government support, he said firms should avail the opportunity to increase their exports to African countries which were not as stringent markets as Europe.  

“The importance of zinc is significantly high in diarrhea patients, especially children,” Syed Jamshed Ahmed, the President of the Pakistan Zinc Promotion Society, told Arab News.  

“So, in children, especially in Pakistan, every day, more than 100 children die because of diarrhea. We have ORS (Oral Rehydrating Solution) but we have very limited options of zinc and many a time, parents skip the zinc dosage with the ORS.”