757 pharmacists' posts lying vacant in Sindh.

KARACHI -- The raw material required for all pharmaceutical companies based in Pakistan is dependent on imports. Even after more than 70 years we have neglected the most important public health sector. As a result, millions of dollars annually from the national exchequer are being spent on raw material imports. This was stated by eminent Pharmacist Ghayas Ahmed and other experts in the training workshop at Pharmacist House in Gulshan- e-Iqbal, which was attended by young pharmacists and students from pharmacy. Dr Ghayas Ahmed said that the growing population of Pakistan had increased the need for medicines in the country. At present, the total volume of pharmaceutical market in Pakistan is Rs 451 billion, which is increasing by 15% annually. Pakistan's population is growing at 2% per annum, which means that 4 million children are becoming part of the country's population every year, so they need food along with medicine, and thus, the pharmaceutical industry is expanding gradually. But the dark side of this is that the industry, which makes billions of dollars, has to import billions of dollars' worth of raw materials...