Hospitals at risk as critical medical equipment remained late in ports

ISLAMABAD: A significant lack of critical medical devices resign from the health care sector across the country, as customs authorities stop missions after the registration exemption, the news said.

Basic supplies, including diagnostic kits, surgical tools, implants and surveillance equipment, are latent to airports and ports, exacerbating an already precarious condition for healthcare providers.

Importers and medical professionals warn that hospitals feel the stem, with critical equipment unavailable for emergency procedures.

Customs officials arrived at the Pakistani Drug Regulatory Authority (DRAP) for guidance on whether the seized missions or the imposition of the exemption ended in accordance with SO 224 (1) 2023, which destroyed December 3124 .

As a result, the numerous missions of Category A, B, C and D medical devices remain blocked at various entry points due to the recruitment and registration certificate.

Syed Omer Ahmed, president of the Pakistani Health Association (HDAP), said: “The situation was forced to despair of importers to approach the Islamabad Supreme Court (IHC) for intervention. The forced action against the reports until the reports are resolved until their registration. “

Despite the court ruling, customs officials remain hesitant, leading to increasing charges and deterioration of hospitals.

Ahmed emphasized that the inactivity and ambiguity of the Customs (Businesses) and the Drap in providing clear directives to the provincial customs authorities, despite the IHC’s stay, had already devastating effects on the healthcare industry.

Although Drap had set up the expansion of the exemption period and forwarded advice to the Prime Minister’s office through the Ministry of National Health Services, no official notice has been issued by the government.

“In the meantime, the customs authorities remain unclear about how to move forward and have sought further clarity from the drap, which has not yet provided a definitive answer,” Ahmed said.

Expressing serious concerns about bureaucratic delays, he warned that failure to resolve this regulatory congestion causes a deterioration in the state of imported devices in ports and airports, possibly leading to their complete loss.

“Medical devices rust at the entrance points, while patients suffer for lack,” he added.

The situation is further exacerbated by the absence of a permanent DRAP chief executive, as the regulatory body was led by Asim Rauf’s retirement two weeks ago.

A DRAP official, speaking on the condition of anonymity, admitted that he was preparing to officially guide the customs authorities to act in accordance with the court directive.

“The interpretation of the judicial commands is not the responsibility of the DRAP, we write to customs officials to follow the IHC decision, if they have doubts, they should seek legal guidance,” the official said.

Pakistan is largely based on imported medical devices, which are essential for surgery, diagnostics and emergency interventions.

In 2017, DRAP introduced the rules of medical appliances, which included Article 52, allowing a period of exception to register medical devices. This exemption was expanded in 2021 and 2022 to provide DRAP with time to regulate thousands of devices that have not been registered before.

Despite the repeated judicial commands directing the drap to accelerate the registration process, thousands of applications remain pending, leaving the importers in the vacuum and threatening the availability of basic medical supplies.

Hospitals throughout Pakistan are already facing serious shortages of diagnostic kits, implants and surgical tools, leading to canceled procedures and compromised patient care.

Reports from large healthcare facilities show that delays in acquiring critical medical equipment force doctors to postpone life -saving surgery.

A DRAP trust recognized that the regulator does not effectively have human resources to process applications, resulting in repeated delays in the issuance of exceptions.