Peshawar: Thousands of Afghan patients are now at risk as life-saving Pakistani medicines remain stuck at Torkham and Chaman, where weeks of border closures have trapped billions of rupees’ worth of medical supplies. Exporters say the shutdown has disrupted the only reliable pharmaceutical lifeline for Afghanistan, leaving hospitals with dwindling stocks and no clarity on when fresh supplies will arrive.
Dozens of containers carrying insulin, antibiotics, vaccines, anaesthetics and cardiac drugs have been parked in unstable temperatures, threatening irreversible spoilage. Industry leaders warn that even a few days of exposure can destroy the potency of these medicines, many of which are urgently needed for children, emergency wards and chronic patients.
For Afghanistan, where up to eighty percent of essential medicines come from Pakistan, the closure has created a humanitarian emergency. Aid workers report that hospitals in major cities have started rationing drugs and, in some cases, delaying non-emergency procedures due to shortages.
Exporters say this crisis has nothing to do with commercial loss alone. They stress that every delayed shipment directly affects vulnerable patients, mothers, infants and elderly people who depend on uninterrupted access to affordable medicines.
Former PPMA chairman Tauqeer-ul-Haq said the humanitarian cost would be severe if medical consignments continue to sit idle at the borders. “These are not ordinary goods. These medicines keep people alive, and we cannot allow political or administrative delays to turn into human suffering,” he said.
He urged both Islamabad and Kabul to allow immediate clearance of medical cargo, even if other trade items remain restricted. He added that the industry is willing to support joint inspections, documentation checks or any technical verification Afghanistan may need to maintain trust in the supply chain.
Exporters fear that if the disruption continues, Afghan hospitals will face critical shortages of insulin, paediatric antibiotics, surgical supplies and vaccines within days. International humanitarian agencies have also issued warnings about the growing vulnerability of displaced communities and clinic-based health services.
Manufacturers say that Pakistan and Afghanistan have a decades-long health linkage that must be protected, regardless of political tension. They point out that Pakistani medicines are already exported to more than sixty countries and meet WHO-GMP and DRAP quality standards.
Trade groups argue that predictable, humanitarian exemptions for medical supplies must be built into border management policies. They warn that repeated closures not only destroy perishable medicines but also undermine emergency response systems on both sides of the border.
Tauqeer-ul-Haq said the message from exporters is unified and urgent: reopen the crossings for medical shipments, protect the cold chain and prevent avoidable loss of life. “It is a matter of health, dignity and basic humanity,” he said.
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