Officials at the DDA said that they will also discuss with the Ministry of Health and Population (MoHP), about the alternatives to the drugs manufactured by the Indian pharmaceutical companies. Indian pharmaceutical companies supply about 60 percent of medicines needed in Nepal."We have called a meeting of drug companies for tomorrow [Monday] and have also planned to hold a crisis meeting with the officials at MoHP tomorrow," Baburam Khakurel, director general (DG) at the DDA, said. He, however, informed that the economic blockade slapped by India will not create immediate drug crisis, as the country has sufficient medicines needed for the next three months.
According to DG Khakurel, the DDA will airlift drugs that are not manufactured in Nepal from Bangladesh and other countries. "We will also ask national companies to increase the volume of their production, in view of the Indian blockade," added Khakurel. He informed that the government will ask the companies to import raw materials from third countries by air.
Officials at the MoHP also said that they have directed concerned agencies to keep the record of the stock of Indian drugs. "We have asked our concerned agencies to prepare latest stock record of the drugs manufactured by Indian companies," Mahendra Bahadur Shrestha, chief of Management Division at MoHP, said. He informed that Minister for Health and Population Khagarag Adhikari has already held discussion with the national drug entrepreneurs, manufacturing companies and others to prevent the future crisis.
Out of 45 drug manufacturing companies operating in country, more than 30 have already received World Health Organization (WHO) Good Manufacturing Practice (GMP) certificates.
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