Zinc Supplementation Saves Lives of Thousands of Children: Experts
By: Omed Hajjana
Islamabad: Experts have said that Zinc Supplementation has saved the lives of thousands of children.
Diarrhea causes deaths of around 110 children every day in Pakistan whose lives can be saved by using inexpensive pharmaceutical interventions including the administration of Zinc along with Oral Rehydrating Solutions (ORS), leading Public Health experts and officials said on Thursday.
They said thousands of lives of children were saved in the flood-affected areas of Sindh and Balochistan last year when they were given Zinc supplements along with oral rehydrating solutions, saying as per World Health Organization (WHO) guidelines, Zinc supplementation improves diarrheal treatment.
Lauding the production of Zinc products at the World Health Organization (WHO) prequalified plant of local pharmaceutical firm PharmEvo in Pakistan, they said Pakistan could not only save the lives of thousands of children by giving them WHO-prequalified nutritional supplements but also save precious foreign exchange by buying these products from the local market.
This is a great achievement for the Pakistani pharmaceutical industry when it comes to the production of two Zinc products by the local pharmaceutical firm PharmEvo at their World Health Organization (WHO) prequalified plant.
Iftikhar Shalwani, Federal Secretary of Health said that now instead of importing these products by spending valuable foreign exchange, they can purchase them from local company and use them to save lives of children, who die due to diarrhea on a daily basis.
He stated this while addressing a ceremony to celebrate WHO prequalification by local pharmaceutical firm PharmEvo.
Addressing the event titled “Importance of Zinc in Human Health and WHO Prequalification”, jointly organized by the Ministry of National Health Services, Regulations and Coordination in collaboration with local pharmaceutical firm PharmEvo, Secretary Health Iftikhar Shalwani praised the Pakistani pharmaceutical industry for their role in control and treatment of diseases, saying these companies played an important role in the management of COVID-19 pandemic in the country.
“And now two more Pakistani pharmaceutical products are being manufactured at WHO prequalified plant, for which PharmEvo, Drug Regulatory Authority of Pakistan (DRAP) Chief Asim Rauf and all officials deserve praise and congratulations”, Iftikhar Shallwani added.
Director General Health Dr. Baseer Achakzai said Zinc products given to children in flood-affected areas of Sindh and Balochistan saved lives of thousands of lives as it is an important intervention that not only prevents and treats diarrhea but it also helps in overcoming malnutrition among children.
“Last year, I distributed thousands of bottles and packs of Zinc products to the flood-affected areas of Balochistan as well as Sindh which saved the lives of thousands of children who would have died if they were not given Zinc and oral rehydrating solutions”, Dr. Baseer Achakzai said and lauded PharmEvo for acquiring WHO prequalification for their Zinc products.
He maintained that international donor organizations including Unicef and others purchase Zinc and other nutritional products from other countries but after WHO prequalification, Zinc products can be produced by local companies.
He urged local pharmaceutical companies to kick off producing TB, BIV, and cancer medicines locally.
Pakistan has to buy these medicines worth 200 to 300 million US$ from other countries of the world.
If these drugs are produced locally, this money would be spent for the country’s economic uplift”, he suggested and called for enhanced collaboration between industry and academia in this regard.
Praising the local pharmaceutical industry for producing medicines of international standards and quality, DRAP Chief Executive Officer Asim Rauf said Pakistan exported medicines and therapeutic goods worth 713 million US$ last and added that now their target is to export pharmaceutical products worth one billion US dollars.
“WHO prequalification of pharmaceutical plant for Zinc products is a giant leap and it would add to our pharmaceutical exports. We are also giving incentives on local production of medicines’ raw material, which will also decrease our dependence on imported API and reduce our import bill”, Asim Rauf added.
Vice Chancellor, of the Health Services Academy (HSA) Prof. Shehzad Ali Khan said of diarrhea is the second leading cause of death of children under five years of age but added that half of the deaths due to diarrhea in children are reported from Pakistan, India, and Nigeria.
Administration of Zinc, ORS, and fluid maintenance can result in preventing the majority of deaths due to diarrhea. It is encouraging that two Zinc products by the PharmEvo are being manufactured at WHO prequalified manufacturing facility”, Prof. Khan said.
He also called for linkages between academia and linkages between the pharma industry and appropriate utilization of the Central Research Fund (CRF) of DRAP for research and development in the pharma sector.HSA organize a Moot on Healthcare Financing in Pakistan
Managing Director PharmEvo Haroon Qasim said they were striving for the realization of their dream of a healthy society in Pakistan and acquiring WHO prequalification for two of their products was another step in that direction. He ruled out obliging anybody personally and said that they used their own resources of capacity building, research, and development as best manufacturing practices.
Chief of Party US Pharmacopeia Waqar Ahmed, Chairman Pakistan Pharmaceutical Manufacturers Association (PPMA) Farooq Bukhari, Chief Operating Officer (CCO) PharmEvo Nadeem Rehmat, Shehzad Afzal from Nutrition International, Abdus Samad from PharmEvo and others from DRAP and the pharmaceutical industry also spoke on the event.
