Health
Medicines still being smuggled into Afghanistan: union
The Pharmaceutical Services Union in Herat says that medicines are still being smuggled into Afghanistan despite efforts made to clamp down on the practise.
According to union officials, these drugs are identifiable, so the price difference is noticeable in the markets.
Consumers meanwhile have complained that some pharmacies are charging exorbitant prices for medicines.
“Instead of cooperating with the people, it is noticed that the price of medicine has increased in pharmacies, or companies supply the same medicine under their own name,” Ahmad Fardin Jami, a resident of Herat, says.
“The Directorate of Public Health should have a regular plan to monitor pharmacies,” Abdul Wahid Mufaker, a resident of Herat, says.
The Union of Pharmaceutical Services in the western zone believes that the pharmaceutical market is still not fully controlled, that drug smuggling continues, and different companies import drugs with special marks, so the price difference in the drug market is noticeable.
“The laws are still not implemented 100%. The facilities of the relevant bodies are not so extensive to control fully. There are pharmaceutical unions all over Afghanistan, and this chain of unions controls the market to some extent, but the unions are not executive offices,” Abdul Karim Shirzad, the head of the Pharmaceutical Services Union in western zone, says.
However, the Public Health Directorate emphasized that serious actions have been taken against those who overcharged or had license issues.
“The Public Health Directorate has always matched the documents that the drug company bought with the price it sells in its monitoring programs, but we also witnessed cases where violations indicating instances of overcharging have taken place,” Mohammad Asif Kabir, Deputy Director of Public Health in Herat, says.
Some medicine sellers say that prices in the global markets are changing.
“Currently, the drugs that are sold in the market are original and high-quality drugs from reputable international companies,” Fereydoun Tokhi, the lawyer of the Pharmacists Association of Herat city, says.
“There are two arguments here, one is that people say that the drug has become expensive. The next is that if we consider globally, raw materials have become expensive all over the world,” Khalid Ahmad Ghafouri, a drug importer, says.
There are hundreds of pharmacies and drug importing companies in Herat, and the issue of price difference has always been a serious problem for the people.
Afghanistan launched a polio vaccination campaign on Monday aimed at protecting around 10.72 million children under the age of 5, the Health Ministry announced.
The four-day campaign will cover 31 of the country’s 34 provinces.
Vaccinations in Ghor, Daikundi and Bamiyan provinces will be implemented later due to recent rains and cold weather, the ministry said in a statement.
“Together with our partners, we are committed to eradicating polio from Afghanistan,” said Dr Qalandar Ebad, the acting minister of public health.
“We will work tirelessly and continue polio vaccination campaigns and complementary health services until we reach the goal of fully eradicating polio.”
The ministry urged religious scholars and local elders to cooperate with vaccine providers to fight polio, a debilitating disease that can lead to paralysis and death.
In December, the World Health Organization (WHO) warned that the repatriation of migrants from neighboring Pakistan has increased the risk of spreading the virus. Since then, Afghanistan has conducted at least three rounds of nationwide vaccinations.
Vaccination campaigns in Afghanistan and Pakistan often face challenges due to conspiracy theories that polio vaccines cause infertility or that vaccinators are spies.
Acting Minister of Public Health Qalandar Ebad, in a meeting with Azerbaijan’s ambassador, Ilham Mohammadov, called for the country’s assistance in improving the capacity of Afghanistan’s health workers.
The two sides also discussed cooperation in the health sector, capacity building of Afghan health workers, and Azerbaijan’s role in the health sector and other issues, according to a statement released by the Public Health Ministry.
Azerbaijan’s envoy said that his country seeks to cooperate with Afghanistan in a sustainable manner in the field of health.
In other news, the foundation stone for the construction of oxygen production facility was laid at the Indira Gandhi children hospital in Kabul.
Officials of the Ministry of Public Health said that the facility will be built with the financial and technical assistance of the World Health Organization, and with the capacity to produce 200 cylinders of oxygen daily to meet not only the needs of the hospital, but also other health facilities.
Balkh Public Health Department officials say there has been a significant increase in the number of patients with cancer in the province.
“In 1401, about 2,613 OPD (out patient department) cases were registered with us. In 1402, these figures were 4,912 cases,” said Ehsanullah Kaliwal, the head of the oncology department at Balkh Regional Hospital.
Some doctors say genetic factors, environmental pollution, arbitrary use of medicines, and excessive consumption of meat were reasons for the sharp increase.
One doctor said cancer was also hereditry.
However, a large percentage of cancer patients in Balkh have stomach cancer. Many of them have appealed for the government to improve treatment facilities.
According to health officials, in the first month of this solar year (April), 423 cancer patients visited this hospital for treatment.
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