KABUL: A new report says that half of all medicine available on the Afghan market has either been smuggled into the country or made under sub-standard conditions in neighboring Pakistan.

The Independent Joint Anti-Corruption Monitoring and Evaluation Committee says in a report released on Wednesday that up to 300 companies in Pakistan are producing poor quality drugs exclusively for Afghanistan because their products do not meet Pakistani government standards.

The report says that since there is no Afghan government regulation of pharmaceuticals, the medicine can be sold in Afghanistan.

Afghanistan's pharmaceuticals market is worth up to $800 million a year.

But the quality of drugs available in the country is so poor that many Afghan people are forced to travel abroad for medical treatment.