ISLAMABAD: E-pharmacies in Pakistan, where the law does not regulate such businesses, have emerged as a "challenge" for provincial health authorities, officials said on Friday, advising the public not to be lured by free delivery and discounted rates into buying medicines online.
The sale of pharmaceutical products over the internet has grown rapidly in the last two years after the COVID-19 pandemic hit the country in February 2020, disrupting people's outdoor movement due to restrictions on transportation and public gatherings. A large number of people thus turned to using online pharmacies to order essential drugs, health officials said, though the quality of the products remains questionable. Drug retailers say e-pharmacies challenge their businesses and allow medicines that could be abused to be sold without verification.
There is no official data available on the exact number of the e-pharmacies in Pakistan but officials said a majority operate in Pakistan’s two largest cities, Karachi and Lahore, with a promise to deliver medicines and other pharmaceutical products at people’s doorsteps within four hours of order placement in these cities, or within 48 hours in other cities through courier services. Many of the online medicine portals also offer up to 20 percent discount with free home delivery.
Drug sales, even at traditional shops in Pakistan, are weakly regulated. Pharmacists often sell medicines without verifying prescriptions.
The Drug Regulatory Authority of Pakistan declined comment for this story, saying health was a provincial subject. The federal health ministry did not reply to calls seeking comment.
“This issue of unregulated online pharmacies is already in our notice, and we have directed the Sindh Healthcare Commission to look into it,” Dr. Irshad Ahmed Memon, Director-General Health Services in Sindh province, of which Karachi is the capital, told Arab News.
He said the trend of online drug stores had registered a boost during the COVID-19 pandemic, but their regulation was a challenge for the health authorities.
“People should not use any random online store to order their medicines,” he advised. “Consumers must scan the barcode on covers of each medicine to make sure the medicine they have received through an online store is genuine.”
Memon said the Sindh healthcare commission was given the task to look into all “illegal and unregulated platforms and come up with a way to register and regulate them as the matter directly pertains to public health safety.”
Under existing laws and rules of provincial health departments, online pharmacies are considered legal only if they operate with a physical mortar-and-brick drug store or warehouse.
“These pharmacies first take a license for operation of their physical stores and then start online services as well, and this practice is considered legal,” Hammad Raza Bukhari, a spokesperson for the Punjab health department, told Arab News.
Sardar Shabbir Ahmad, a senior drug inspector in Islamabad, called the business of online pharmacies “totally illegal” and a “challenge” for authorities.
He said his department had initiated action against such platforms, but it was difficult to track each purchase and online transaction.
“I would strongly advise people not to use such websites offering medicines at discounted rates, because you never know they'll be selling poor quality or counterfeit drugs,” Ahmad said.
Pakistani pharmacists have also warned the public to avoid online pharmacies that operate with “zero government regulation.”
“People need to understand that medicines for a patient aren't like other commodities that you can buy online and trust the quality of products,” Ghulam Farid Khan, president of the Pakistan Pharmacists Association, told Arab News.
He said e-pharmacies were able to offer discounted rates that even manufacturing companies could not afford.
“It means there is something fishy in their business,” he said. “Where are they buying medicines at such low prices?”
Khan urged the government to initiate a crackdown against online pharmacies “for playing with the health and safety of the people.”
Noor Muhammad Mahar, a pharmacist and president of the Pakistan Drug Lawyer Forum, said a majority of people were purchasing steroids, narcotics and steroids from online pharmacies without a doctor's prescription.
“The government must regulate online drug stores because this is a matter of public health which can't be left at the mercy of scoundrels,” Mahar said.
But many users of e-pharmacies Arab News spoke to said the platforms were a “blessing.”
“Online pharmacies proved a blessing to me when my parents contracted COVID last year and I got all the required medicines at my doorstep without any delivery charges,” Rahul Basharat, a resident of Hassan Abdal, told Arab News.
He said it was difficult for him to visit Islamabad to purchase medicines while leaving his ailing parents behind, so he ordered the required drugs online.
“Yes, it involves the risk of getting spurious or low quality products from online pharmacies,” Basharat said, “but in an emergency you have to rely on them.”
In Pakistan, e-pharmacies emerge as ‘challenge’ for health authorities, public safety
https://arab.news/9yvap
In Pakistan, e-pharmacies emerge as ‘challenge’ for health authorities, public safety
- Officials say online pharmacies registered boost during COVID-19 pandemic, authorities says working on regulation
- Pharmacists demand crackdown, say people ordering banned steroids and sedatives without doctors' prescriptions
After bail in state gifts case, new charges filed against Pakistan’s Imran Khan
- Khan has been named in case relating to alleged violence by his supporters during a rally in September
- Khan, who has been in jail since August 2023, says all cases against him are politically motivated
ISLAMABAD: Rawalpindi police said on Thursday they had filed fresh charges against former Pakistani Prime Minister Imran Khan related to violence at a party rally in September, a day after a court granted the ex-premier bail in a case involving the illegal sale of gifts from a state repository.
On Wednesday, the Islamabad High Court granted Khan bail in the new Toshakhana case, filed in July and involving a jewelry set worth over €380,000 gifted to the former first lady by a foreign dignitary when Khan was prime minister from 2018-2022. The couple is accused of undervaluing the gift and buying it at a lesser price from the state repository.
Before the new case was filed, Khan, who has been in jail since last August, was convicted in four cases. Two of the cases have since been suspended, including an original one relating to state gifts, while he was acquitted in the remaining two.
“A case has been registered for arson, stone pelting, resisting the police, damage to government property and other incidents,” Rawalpindi Police announced on X, reading the charges against Khan in connection to a protest held by his Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) party in September.
“Investigation team headed by SSP Investigation is investigating Imran Khan. Khan will be produced in court to obtain physical remand.”
Charges have also been filed in the case against Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Chief Minister Ali Amin Gandapur and a number of PTI leaders, including Seemabia Tahir, Amir Mughar and Aliya Hamza.
The police report of the case, which was filed on Sept. 28, the day of the rally, lists terrorism, attempted murder, vandalism, destruction of public and state property, and interference in government operations as the main charges. It says participants of the PTI rally created unrest, obstructed public access by burning tires and caused difficulties for citizens.
It also charges PTI leaders and supporters of raising anti-government slogans, hurling stones at the police and attacking them with iron rods during the protest.
Several police vehicles were damaged by PTI rallygoers and one police officer was injured, the report says.
Khan was in prison when the Sept. 28 rally took place. The former premier denies any wrongdoing, and alleges all the cases registered against him since he was removed from power in 2022 are politically motivated to keep him in jail.
Pakistani PM thanks King Salman, Gates foundations for global anti-polio efforts
- Pakistan, along with neighboring Afghanistan, remains last polio-endemic country in the world
- This year, 50 cases have been reported in Pakistan so far, a majority in Balochistan province
ISLAMABAD: Pakistani Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif on Wednesday met a delegation of the Polio Oversight Board in Islamabad and thanked the King Salman and Bill & Melinda Gates foundations, among others, in their global efforts for polio eradication.
Pakistan, along with neighboring Afghanistan, remains the last polio-endemic country in the world. The nation’s polio eradication campaign has hit serious problems with a spike in reported cases this year that has prompted officials to review their approach to stopping the crippling disease.
Poliovirus, which can cause crippling paralysis particularly in young children, is incurable and remains a threat to human health as long as it has not been eradicated. Immunization campaigns have succeeded in most countries and have come close in Pakistan, but persistent problems remain.
“The Prime Minister thanked the King Salman Foundation, Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, Rotary Foundation, UNICEF and CDC, which are partners with the Government of Pakistan in the polio eradication campaign,” Sharif’s office said in a statement after the meeting.
“The role of all these organizations reflects the global efforts in the polio eradication campaign.”
This year, 50 cases have been reported in Pakistan: 24 from Balochistan province, 13 from Sindh, 10 from KP and one each from Punjab and Islamabad.
In the early 1990s, Pakistan reported around 20,000 cases annually but in 2018 the number dropped to eight cases. Six cases were reported in 2023 and only one in 2021.
Pakistan’s polio eradication program began in 1994, and the number of cases has declined dramatically since then. But efforts to eradicate the virus have for years been undermined by vaccine misinformation and opposition from some religious hard-liners, who say immunization is a foreign ploy to sterilize Muslim children or a cover for Western spies. Militant groups also frequently attack and kill members of polio vaccine teams.
In July 2019, a vaccination drive in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa was thwarted after mass panic was created by rumors that children were fainting or vomiting after being immunized.
Public health studies in Pakistan have shown that maternal illiteracy and low parental knowledge about vaccines, together with poverty and rural residency, are also factors that commonly influence whether parents vaccinate their children against polio.
Pakistan’s chief health officer this month said an estimated 500,000 children had missed polio vaccinations during a recent countrywide inoculation drive due to vaccine refusals.
Government moves to accelerate relocation of Chinese industries to Pakistan
- Seven-member panel was formed in September to formulate policy framework to boost Chinese industrial migration
- Panel’s focus is to develop incentive package to attract Chinese investment, make Pakistan regionally competitive
ISLAMABAD: Minister for Planning Ahsan Iqbal said on Wednesday Pakistan would provide land to Chinese industries as Islamabad pushes forward with initiatives to boost industrial migration from the neighbor and longtime ally, Radio Pakistan reported.
A seven-member panel was formed by Iqbal in September to formulate a comprehensive policy framework for relocating Chinese industries to Pakistan, aimed at enhancing industrial collaboration under the China-Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC).
Last year the government said it had completed more than 50 schemes worth $25 billion under CPEC, a flagship project under China’s Belt and Road Initiative, with more than $65 billion pledged for road, rail and other infrastructure developments in the South Asian nation of 241 million people.
“Iqbal has directed the officials concerned to identify suitable sites for the establishment of Model Special Economic Zones and prepare a comprehensive concept paper for the purpose,” Radio Pakistan reported about Iqbal’s meeting with the industrial migration panel.
“The minister said Pakistan would provide land to Chinese industries, while they would manage the infrastructure and market these zones themselves.”
The panel is led by the additional secretary of the Board of Investment and comprises members from the Commerce Ministry, the Ministry of Industries and Production, the Finance Division, the State Bank of Pakistan, the Federal Board of Revenue, and the CPEC Secretariat.
The panel’s primary focus is to identify challenges in industrial relocation, propose solutions, and develop an incentive package to attract Chinese investment and make Pakistan regionally competitive.
The security of the Chinese nationals and their interests, which are often attacked by insurgents, remains the biggest challenge for Islamabad.
Pakistan inaugurates nation’s first maritime science and technology park
- Park to be hub for AI, cybersecurity, ocean renewable energy, seafood processing, shipbuilding and coastal tourism
- Naval chief says park will address Pakistan’s economic challenges, be expanded to Islamabad, Lahore and Gwadar
ISLAMABAD: Pakistan’s naval chief inaugurated the country’s first Maritime Science and Technology Park (PMSTP) in the southern port city of Karachi on Wednesday, according to the navy’s media wing, which said the facility would prove to be a “significant step” in addressing the country’s economic challenges.
The navy said in its press release that the PMSTP is Pakistan’s first dedicated maritime science park integrating academia, industry and the government in a unique collaboration to foster growth across the country’s maritime sectors.
It said the park’s initiatives will target diverse fields including naval technologies, artificial intelligence, cybersecurity, ocean renewable energy, seafood processing, shipbuilding and coastal tourism. Pakistan Navy Chief Admiral Naveed Ashraf inaugurated the park on Wednesday during the second day of the International Defense Exhibition and Seminar (IDEAS) exhibition in Karachi.
“PMSTP is envisioned as a transformative hub for innovation and advancement, focusing on maritime science and technology to bolster Pakistan’s blue economy,” the navy said. “The project represents a significant step toward addressing Pakistan’s economic challenges, with plans for expansion beyond Karachi to Islamabad, Lahore, and Gwadar.”
Pakistan, home to multiple sea ports, has tried to tap into them to enhance its economic growth especially in the trade and tourism sectors. Pakistan’s ports, which have access to the Arabian Sea, employ thousands of people in fishing, shipping and other marine sectors.
IDEAS is Pakistan’s premier weapons expo, held biennially since its inception under former army chief General (r) Pervez Musharraf’s administration in 2000 and has grown into a key event for the defense sector.
This year’s exhibition is running from Nov.19 — Nov. 22 and is expected to host over 550 exhibitors, including 340 international defense companies, alongside more than 350 senior civil and military officials from 55 countries.
Pakistan unveils new ‘game changer’ fighter drone
- ‘Shahpar-III’ can fly up to 35,000 feet and carry heavy weapons such as bombs, missiles and torpedoes
- Cruise missile fired from ‘Shahpar-III’ drone can strike within 250 kilometer range, says manufacturing company
KARACHI: Pakistan’s Army Chief General Syed Asim Munir this week unveiled the “Shahpar-III” drone capable of flying 35,000 feet into the air and carrying heavy weapons such as bombs, cruise missiles and torpedoes, with the head of the company that manufactured the drone describing it as a “game changer” in battlefield.
Developed by Global Industrial Defense Solutions (GIDS), a state-owned Pakistani defense conglomerate, Shahpar-III represents the third generation of the Shahpar series of unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs). The latest edition is capable of carrying a payload of up to 500 kilograms, which enables it to transport a variety of heavy weapons.
Munir unveiled the drone during the ongoing International Defense Exhibition and Seminar (IDEAS) expo in Pakistan’s southern port city of Karachi on Wednesday. Pakistan’s premier expo, running from Nov. 19-22 at the Karachi Expo Center, will host over 550 exhibitors, including 340 international defense companies, alongside more than 350 senior civil and military officials from 55 countries.
“It is a main game changer in a battlefield with the kind of weapons it can carry,” Asad Kamal, Chief Executive Officer of GIDS, told Arab News, adding that the drone would soon be inducted into the Pakistan Air Force (PAF).
UAVs offer a unique advantage to combat forces around the world as they can be deployed in hazardous environments without risking human lives, mostly in conflict zones, to carry out precision strikes.
Apart from its obvious military advantages, UAVs or drones can also be used for civilian purposes such as search and rescue missions, reconnaissance, surveillance, agriculture monitoring and delivery services.
The Shahpar-III is a successor to the Shahpar-II drone which could fly up to 20 hours at a maximum altitude of 23,000 feet in the air, according to GIDS website. The Shahpar-III can fly up to 35,000 feet for 24 hours and carry a payload of up to 500 kilograms.
GIDS, which has been selling its products to around 14 countries including Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates, introduced Shahpar-II in 2021. The drone’s impressive endurance and high-altitude capabilities make it a formidable asset for military operations.
“This has a more strategic value to an armed force in comparison to Shahpar-II,” Kamal explained. “Shahpar-III is a natural step up when you’re making UAVs drones.”
Kamal said the drone can see targets at night and “take on the enemy” with heavy weapons.
“That means that from your own borders, you can launch a cruise missile from an unpiloted plane,” he said. “That cruise missile has a range of 250 kilometers. So, it can give any force a lot of firepower value by having this sort of a weapon in its arsenal.”
