Analysis of the state of medicine in Pakistan: challenges and future prospects

Abstract

Aims: This article examines the condition of medicine in Pakistan utilising existing scientific articles, reports, and other published information in order to describe the position of the country regarding medication quality and the presence of deprived and/or false pharmaceutical preparations.

Methodology: In this study, studies concerned with the condition of medicine in Pakistan have been systematically searched. The most sustainable recent studies on the condition of medicine in Pakistan in PubMed, Medline, the Cochrane library, EmBase, and Google Scholar were evaluated for this systematic review. The search criteria were [Medicine or drug] AND [analysis] AND [Pakistan]. To guarantee the caliber and consistency of the selected articles, many criteria were utilised for article eligibility, in accordance with the PRISMA principles and critical assessment tools.

Results: The authors first retrieved 750 papers for use in electronic databases. These publications were then once again compared to the study's goals, and any that didn't fit the bill were disregarded. After further screening 40 publications were chosen and dispersed to the authors for additional evaluations. The authors' detailed brainstorming session resulted in the inclusion of 18 pertinent papers in the review.

Scientific Novelty: This is the first systematic review performed in Pakistan in order to highlight the state of medicine.

Conclusion: The research suggests that to effectively regulate substandard and counterfeit medication in Pakistan, regulatory procedures for facility inspections and Good Manufacturing Practices (GMP) assessments, analytical laboratories, and capacity building, all need to be strengthened. The material that is currently available cannot support the claim that 40–50% of Pakistan's medications are of low quality. The primary causes of the subpar services provided by community pharmacies include a lack of competent personnel, a lack of advice, and a lack of professionalism on the part of the dispensers, as well as the vagueness of rules and how they are applied.