PESHAWAR, Aug 28: Pakistan Chemists and Druggists Association has expressed concern over the stoppage of supply by the multinational pharmaceutical companies following the withdrawal of the general sale tax on medicines. The association has asked the government to take stock of the situation.

Talking to Dawn on Wednesday, PCDA senior vice-president Abdul Hadi Khan said the MNCs had created a strange situation as they had halted the supply of essential and life-saving drug to the chemists.

Mr Khan pointed out that the chemists who had already paid the GST on the stock purchased before the withdrawal of GST were finding it difficult to sell the products without the GST.

He said the government should force the multinational companies to refund the GST to the chemists so that they could sell the drugs without the GST.

PCDA chairman Arbab Javed Ahmed criticized the multinational companies operating in Pakistan, saying they sold their products on prices 500-1000 per cent more than what they charged in India.

Mr Arbab said it might not be possible to trickle down the benefit of the withdrawal of the GST owing to the influence and clout enjoyed by the multinational companies. He asked the government to force the foreign companies to comply with the government decision about the withdrawal of GST and restore the supply to the market.

According to him, many life-saving drugs and other essential medicines had gone missing from the market and if the situation remained the same patients would suffer a great deal.

Mr Arbab demanded of the government to give representation to the leader of the chemists bodies in the drug pricing committee so that they could point out the tactics adopted by the multinational companies about the pricing mechanism.

He said the government should compel the multinational companies to bring down the prices of their products so the patients could be benefited.