Islamabad, March 29 (IANS) Prices of medicines have increased in the open market and the pharmaceutical hub of Bohor Bazaar in Pakistan's Rawalpindi, with prices rising from 50 per cent to as high as 500 per cent, local media reported on Sunday.
Prices of essential medicines, including those for diabetes and hypertension, antibiotics, gastrointestinal conditions and cough have increased. The price of an insulin injection device in the open market has increased from Pakistani Rupees (PKR) 2,200 to PKR 4,720, Pakistan's leading daily The Express Tribune reported.
The cost of vitamin B supplements have increased from PKR 500 to PKR 600. Similarly, price of a packet of indigestion and acidity medication has increased from PKR 530 to PKR 620. Price of a pack of nutritional supplements and vitamin tablets have increased from PKR 480 to PKR 510.
Price of thyroid medicine has increased from PKR 85 to PKR 290. Meanwhile, price for a commonly used typhoid treatment has increased from PKR 805 to PKR 930. Prices of several other life-saving medicines have also increased.
Critics have termed the increase "unbearable", stressing that insulin devices reaching between PKR 2,000 and PKR 5,000 deprive patients with low-income to access essential treatment and have urged government to intervene.
Meanwhile, the average price of liquefied petroleum gas (LPG) in Pakistan has surged to PKR 3,900-5,135 per 11.67 kg cylinder from PKR 3,150-3,968 amid the conflict in West Asia.
Citing data from the Sensitive Price Index (SPI) published by the Pakistan Bureau of Statistics (PBS) for the week ending March 26, the most significant price hikes were recorded across various cities in Punjab province, Pakistan's another leading daily Dawn reported.
Reports suggest that as gas prices rise, fares for LPG-run private transport have increased, placing additional pressure on low- and middle-income commuters dependent on LPG-driven rickshaws, buses, and minibuses.
Amid the global rise in LPG prices triggered by the conflict, the gas supplies from Iran, which previously ranged between 10,000 and 12,000 tonnes a day, have declined due to the Eid and Nowroz holidays.
According to M Ali Haider, Convenor of the Standing Committee on LPG of the Federation of Pakistan Chambers of Commerce and Industry, three vessels carrying about 20,000 imported LPG arrived in Pakistan during March.
He said the country needs around 2m tonnes of LPG annually, of which 1.2m tonnes are imported, and 800,000 tonnes are produced by local refineries.
--IANS
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