Taliban on Tuesday opened a pharmaceutical exhibition in Kabul, promoting domestic medicine production and urging people to rely more heavily on locally manufactured medicines amid growing economic pressures and disruptions in regional trade.
The exhibition, known as the Abu Ali Sina Balkhi Pharmaceutical Expo, was inaugurated by Abdul Ghani Baradar, the Taliban’s deputy prime minister for economic affairs, at the Afghanistan International Exhibition Center in Kabul.
Speaking at the opening ceremony, Baradar said Afghanistan’s pharmaceutical sector had grown significantly in recent months and that a substantial portion of the country’s medical needs was now being met through domestic production.
He described support for local industries as the most effective response to foreign sanctions and economic pressure, adding that reduced imports had accelerated growth in Afghanistan’s pharmaceutical manufacturing sector.
Baradar also called on Afghans to trust locally produced medicines and urged drug sellers to avoid price inflation and hoarding.
According to Taliban officials, 134 pharmaceutical factories are currently operating across the country, producing 1,170 types of medicine. They said about $450 million had been invested in the sector and that domestic production now supplies 38 percent of the country’s pharmaceutical demand, up from 25 percent eight months ago.
The three-day exhibition, running from May 19 through May 21 in Kabul’s Chaman-e-Hozori area, features products from dozens of pharmaceutical and health-product manufacturers.
The Taliban-run Ministry of Public Health said the event was intended to support domestic medicine production and expand Afghanistan’s health-care and pharmaceutical industries.
At the ceremony, Hamdullah Zahid, the Taliban deputy minister for food and medicine, said Afghanistan possessed roughly 4,000 raw materials that could be used in pharmaceutical manufacturing and argued that the country could eventually become self-sufficient if those materials were processed domestically.
He also encouraged investors to expand their involvement in Afghanistan’s pharmaceutical industry, describing current conditions as a significant investment opportunity.
The exhibition comes as Afghanistan faces rising medical costs and shortages of imported medicines following repeated disruptions and closures along trade routes with Pakistan, historically one of the country’s primary suppliers of pharmaceutical goods.
Many citizens say the rising cost of medicine and treatment has become increasingly difficult to manage amid deepening economic hardship and widespread unemployment.
International organizations have repeatedly warned that Afghanistan’s health-care system remains under severe strain because of economic collapse, declining aid and shortages of medical supplies, particularly in rural areas.
The pharmaceutical exhibition was organized by the Taliban-run Ministry of Public Health in cooperation with Afghanistan’s pharmaceutical and health products association.
