Incumbent govt determined to provide affordable lifesaving drugs to public: Premier Shehbaz

ISLAMABAD, July 12 (SABAH): Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif has said that government is committed to provide affordable lifesaving drugs to the people along with enhancing the export potential of pharmaceutical industry.            

Addressing the 6th Pharma Awards ceremony in Islamabad on Wednesday, Shehbaz Sharif said in the wake of increasing cost of life-saving drugs, maintaining balance between stabilizing the pharma industry and protecting the interests of poor people has become a daunting challenge.

He directed to constitute a committee to devise strategy as to how we can address the issues faced by pharma industry as well as provide low-cost medicines to the poor people.

The committee will submit recommendations within next two weeks for future plan of action.  The Prime Minister said Pakistan has best drug testing laboratories to ensure the quality of medicines.  

He mentioned that in 2016, as Chief Minister Punjab, he dedicated seven to eight billion rupees for procurement of life-saving drugs through a very transparent mechanism.

On the occasion, Shehbaz Sharif distributed awards among best performing pharma companies.