Arakan residents experience soaring medicine prices

Narinjara News, 28 June 2024

The residents of Arakan (Rakhine) State experience severe medicine shortage and subsequent escalating prices following the military junta’s continued road blockade for many months.

"The medicines from the mainland are not arriving and hence it becomes scarce. Now the medicines are sold at 3 to 6 times higher prices. We are receiving a very limited volume of medicines from India,” said a pharmacy owner in Kyauktaw.

Since 13 November, when the fighting between the Arakan Army (AA) and junta forces broke out, the junta blocked all roads connecting to the mainland.As a result, Arakan is experiencing shortages of household items along with medicines.

"All medicines become expensive now. Vitrometa 10 pills now cost Kyats 7,000, OBIMIN 4 pills 5,000 and Folic acid 1,000 per bottle. With limited job opportunities, the residents are experiencing high commodity and medicine prices now,” said a pregnant woman from Mrauk-U township.

While the common Arakanese are consuming medicines at a higher price, many travel to neighbouring countries like India and Bangladesh to procure medicines at a very high rate.

Female residents are experiencing deteriorated health conditions because essential medicines have gone missing from the local pharmacies or those are sold at high prices.  

In the Arakanese townships, which are controlled by the AA, and those areas witnessing gun fighting, the supply of medicines become irregular and often selling with higher prices have put the residents in a difficult situation.