Permission requested through the Traders Association to import medicine to Rakhine
Less than a week’s worth of medicine is left in stock in pharmacies in many cities including the state’s capital Sittwe, due to the Military Council’s ban on importation of medicine into Rakhine State. This has forced medical companies and pharmacies in Rakhine to urgently seek permission to import medicine through the Traders Association.
The owner of a pharmacy warned that “Every pharmacy is almost out of medicine in Rakhine. In less than a week, all the medicine will run out. We will ask the Traders Association about how we can import medicine to Rakhine..We will send that petition letter today”.
In Rakhine, not only hospitals and clinics, but also ordinary people are facing many hardships due to the lack of medical supplies.
Medical companies and pharmacies in Rakhine will send the petition to the Traders Association in Yangon on October 21.
The letter appeals to the Association to help Rakhine people, as they are experiencing such acute shortages of medicine.
If the Traders Association cannot help, the problem of drug shortages in Rakhine is likely to reach its worst-ever level, according to the business people who run the local pharmacies.
“Transporting medicine requires government approval. Otherwise, we can't import. Now we must ask for permission, but we can’t yet say whether or not it will be granted. The people are already facing major deprivation. In Rakhine, there is less than a week's worth of medicine stock left”, a pharmacy owner said.
After the resumption of fighting with the Arakan Army (AA), the Military Council strictly banned the importation of medicine to Rakhine. As a result, the Rakhine locals are suffering from shortage of medicine and high prices.
Importation of medicine is strictly prohibited especially in northern townships of Rakhine State. Furthermore, the Military Council checkpoints in the city of Ann also started restricting the transportation of medicine since September 25, according to local pharmacy owners.
