ISLAMABAD: The Pakistan Pharmaceutical Manufacturers Association (PPMA) has said it has started supplying free medicines to Afghanistan to fill urgent shortages in medicines and medical supplies.

Afghanistan has been plunged into crisis by the abrupt end of billions of dollars in foreign assistance, following the collapse of the Western-backed government and return to power of the Taliban in August.

A first consignment of free medicines worth Rs25 million was dispatched from Karachi, including drugs for the treatment of viral and common diseases as well as stocks of supplies used in emergencies.

“This is the first consignment of our plan of medical assistance in Afghanistan,” Atif Iqbal at the Pakistan Pharmaceutical Manufacturers Association (PPMA) was quoted by Dawn as saying. “After a week or so we would be dispatching another such consignment worth Rs100m. The industry has responded to an appeal from Afghanistan’s health minister who had recently sought support from Pakistan’s health sector including health care professionals and pharmaceutical industry.”

He said the industry was trying to figure out the immediate medical needs of Afghanistan and coordinating with member manufacturers in all major cities of Pakistan to come in aid of the neighboring country.

The World Health Organi­sation (WHO) warned in September that Afghanistan’s health system was on the brink of collapse.

“Apart from medicines, we have sent wheelchairs and other crucial medical equi­pment,” Ghulam Hashim Noorani of the Pakistan Chemists and Druggists Associa­tion told Dawn. “It’s a beginning and we hope that our industry would come forward and meet the expectations of our Afghan brothers and sisters. They desperately need our help.”

Pakistani health authorities last month announced they would cooperate with Afghanistan to improve its health care infrastructure, which has been badly affected by decades of conflict. The PM’s Adviser on Health Dr. Faisal Sultan has asked Afghan authorities to ‘define their health needs’ for assistance from Pakistan.

Pakistan has established a 300-bed tertiary-care health facility in Kabul called the “Mohammad Ali Jinnah Hospital,” which is the only functional public health facility in the country currently with 50 oxygenated beds for COVID-19 patients.