ISLAMABAD, April 17: The All Pakistan Chemists and Druggists Association (APCDA) has threatened to observe a strike throughout the country if the government fails to withdraw the 15 per cent general sales tax imposed on medicines.

The association issued the warning at its meeting, held here at the health ministry on Wednesday and presided over by Health Director-General Maj-Gen (retd) Mohammad Aslam.

The meeting, attended by the Central Board of Revenue’s sales tax chief, Shahid Bashir, and the representatives of the Pakistan Pharmaceutical Manufacturers Association, the APCDA, the Pharma Bureau and the Chemists and Whole-sellers Association from Peshawar Lahore, Rawalpindi, Islamabad, Hazara and Karachi, was convened to consider the issues and the situation arising out of the imposition of the GST on medicines.

A statement, issued by the Foundation for the Preferment of Pharmaceutical Sciences (FPPS) after the meeting, said the CBR had rejected at the meeting the appeal to withdraw the GST.

An APCDA representative told the meeting that chemists had been observing a partial strike since March 21 and would resort to full-fledged protest if the GST was not withdrawn.

Meanwhile, a government handout said the director-general had urged the manufacturers, distributors, whole-sellers and chemists to work sincerely to alleviate the sufferings of the people and to ensure the availability of drugs in the larger interest of poor patients. All groups explained their problems, views and gave suggestions with a view to ensuring availability of drugs.

The FPPS statement said the APCDA representative had also threatened that they would not purchase any drugs on which sales tax had been imposed.

Quoting a recent analysis, it said more than 50 per cent medicines were not available in the market, besides there was no formula available for rebate on the sales tax if the drug was not sold, expired or in case of breakage.

The representatives of pharmaceutical companies and druggists were of the view that the patients of hypertension, diabetes, tuberculosis, dialysis, leukemia and leprosy could not afford medicines any more owing to the imposition of the GST. Drugs for other diseases, like cancer, kidney failure and hepatitis, were so expensive that the patients sometimes had to sell their houses and properties to buy them, they added.