Middle East conflict deepens medicine crisis in Pakistan, rising costs and shortage push patients to brink

Amid weak price controls and global supply disruptions due to Middle East crisis, patients across multiple cities in Pakistan are bearing the brunt of the rapidly rising medicine prices pushing them into major financial crisis.

On February 28, the United States and Israel launched airstrikes on Iran and targeted military and government sites in the country, assassinating several Iranian officials, including Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei. In reply, Iran launched missile and drone strikes against Israel, US bases as well as and US-allied Arab countries in West Asia, besides closing the Strait of Hormuz, disrupting global trade.

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This has significantly disrupted global supply chains, increasing shipping costs and inflated prices of imported raw materials that are used in Pakistan’s pharmaceutical sector, The Express Tribune reported.

Medicine prices skyrocket in Lahore, Karachi and Peshawar

According to reports, medicine prices across urban centres in Pakistan have surged on a regular basis since 2023. Prices for essential medicines increased by nearly 50 per cent in 2024 and again by 30 to 40 per cent in 2025.

Moreover, the Shehbaz Sharif-led government’s decision to impose 18 per cent general sales tax on materials used in producing pharmaceutical components and goods has driven essential treatment out of reach.

Apart from this, several public hospitals in cities like Lahore, Karachi and Peshawar are facing shortage of medicines, with patients often receiving only partial prescriptions.

The hike in prices for non-essential medicines continue unchecked in the country due to policy structures, said Abdul Samad Budhani, Chairman of the Pakistan Chemist and Drug Association.

“When the government delays decisions on essential drug pricing, importers reduce supply, which leads to shortages, especially for critical medicines like insulin,” The Express Tribune quoted Budhani as saying.

Further, irrational prescribing as well as self-medication are further worsening the situation, according to Dr Adnan Rizvi, president of the Pakistan Pharmacists Association Sindh.

Rizvi said doctors often prescribe unnecessary multivitamins and even patients usually buy medicines without prescriptions. He warned that if this trend goes on unchecked then treatment options will become increasingly limited, with “no major new antibiotics expected by 2030”.

Pakistan left with ‘no choice due to financial constraints’

Across major cities like Lahore and Karachi, people have raised concern over the rising costs of medicines, nothing that even basic treatment has become unaffordable.

Recently, the pakistan Medical Association (PMA) warned of a looming “man-made” epidemic in the country over the manufacturing and use of reusable suringes despite a ban. It has called for a nationwide audit and seizure of non-compliant, falsely labelled stocks.

The PMA has put the blame on the Drug Regulatory Authority of Pakistan (DRAP) as well as provincial authorities for the “catastrophic failure”.

Speaking to a local newspaper, a diabetes patient claimed that his monthly medicine costs have doubled from around PKR 5,000 to nearly PKR 10,000, adding that if the prices keep rising like this, then it will become “impossible to continue treatment”.

In situation appears even more volatile in Karachi as wholesalers have claimed that price revisions are taking place every 15 to 20 days. Some people have even claimed that prices for blood pressure and cholesterol medicines have nearly doubled compared to two years ago.

Drug pricing expert Noor Mehr explained that deregulation of medicine prices has weakened oversight as companies are effectively setting prices themselves, due to which people are witnessing frequent increases.