Some Kabul residents complain about the quality of certain medicines made in Afghanistan. They say that although the price of domestically produced medicines is lower compared to many imported medicines, in some cases they do not have sufficient confidence in their quality and effectiveness. According to them, the lack of adequate information about the composition and quality of domestic medicines, along with concerns about how the production process is monitored, has led some consumers to prefer imported medicines when making purchases.
These residents, speaking with the Hasht-e Subh Daily, add that regular monitoring of medicine production factories and testing the quality of products could be effective in increasing public trust in domestic pharmaceutical products. They emphasize that increasing domestic medicine production can only reduce dependence on imports if the quality and effectiveness of these products are also guaranteed.
Zulaikha, one of the residents of Kabul, says that her differing experiences with domestic and imported medicines have made her more cautious when deciding what to buy. She adds that in one instance, after using a type of medicine made in Afghanistan, she did not achieve the expected result and was forced to obtain the imported version of it to continue her treatment. According to her, such an experience not only requires a patient to switch medicines but also increases the cost of treatment.
Zulaikha says: “When you buy medicine for treatment, you expect to get at least the result the doctor mentioned. But I once took a medicine made in Afghanistan and saw no change after using it. When I used the imported medicine, I felt the result was better, and this made me more cautious the next time I bought domestic medicines.”
Shokur Shahed, another resident of Kabul, says that his main concern about certain medicines made in Afghanistan is the lack of assurance regarding the quality and composition of these products. He adds that consumers usually cannot determine whether a medicine has been produced according to health standards or whether its ingredients match the specifications listed on the packaging. According to him, this very concern has led a number of people to choose imported medicines despite their higher prices.
Shokur Shahed says: “When an Afghan syrup costs 50 afghanis and its imported equivalent costs 150 afghanis, people might buy the domestic one because it is cheaper. But what matters is that they know the medicine truly has the composition and quality it should have. If monitoring is proper and people become confident in the quality of the medicine, I think trust in domestic products will also increase.”
Shahed adds that Taliban officials should review the medicine production process from the stage of raw material entry through to production and market supply, and should regularly test pharmaceutical products. According to him, the lower price of domestic medicines can only be an advantage for people if these products also meet the necessary standards in terms of quality and effectiveness.
However, some Kabul residents consider the quality of medicines made in Afghanistan acceptable and say that the quality of all domestic medicines cannot be judged the same way.
Aamina, one of the residents of Kabul, says that after the closure of the Pakistan route, the quality of several imported medicines also declined, and amid this, some domestic medicines have managed to replace part of these products in the market. She adds that the quality of certain domestic products, including serum and alcohol, is acceptable to her, but she still does not have enough confidence in the quality of a number of other medicines.
Aamina says: “We currently use domestic products and are relatively satisfied, but producers need to work more on quality. Because if people fail to get results from a medicine once, they lose trust in it, and even if its quality improves later, they may not turn to it again.”
Shamsullah, another resident of Kabul, unlike some other consumers, says that he trusts medicines made in Afghanistan and in some cases considers their quality better than that of several imported medicines. He adds that he himself has used some domestic medicines and, given the young age of Afghanistan’s pharmaceutical industry, has found their quality acceptable.
Shamsullah says: “I personally trust domestic medicines more than many foreign ones, both in terms of quality and because medicine production inside the country needs to grow. I have used domestic medicines myself and have found their quality better compared to some foreign medicines that companies import.”
He adds that people should not pay attention only to the name of a company or the recognition of a brand when buying medicine, because, according to him, some well-known brands may also lack desirable quality. Shamsullah emphasizes that health institutions must seriously monitor the quality and effectiveness of both domestic and imported medicines so that people’s choices are based on quality rather than merely on name and advertising.
These differing views are raised at a time when, in recent years, the activity of medicine production factories in Afghanistan has increased, and the Taliban have spoken of expanding domestic production and reducing dependence on imports. Nooruddin Azizi, the Taliban’s Minister of Industry and Commerce, had previously said that operating licenses have been issued to five thousand nine hundred companies and that around two thousand types of goods are produced domestically. He had also said that Afghanistan has become self-sufficient in the production of about 300 items and products.
In the pharmaceutical sector as well, domestic production capacity has increased. According to officials of the Herat Chamber of Industries and Mines, 18 factories producing medicine and medical equipment are currently operating in the industrial park of that province, producing more than one thousand one hundred types of medicine. They say that with the opening of nearly 30 new factories, medicine production capacity and job opportunities in this sector will increase.
Despite the increase in production capacity, the differing views of consumers show that quality remains one of the determining factors in the acceptance of domestic medicines. While some residents are not satisfied with their experience using a number of these medicines, others consider them reliable and a replacement for part of the imported medicines.
You can read the Persian version of this report here:
