摘要：Protecting the efficacy of temperature-sensitive drugs is a real challengeespecially for the countries with hot climates. Over-the-counter medicineshave recommended storage-temperature of around 20-30 °C, while ambienttemperature in most metropolitan areas of Pakistan reach around 40-50 °C insummers, even under the shade. Other temperature-sensitive medicinesrequire storage at around 4-8 °C. A reputation of spurious drugs due tomismanagement with regard to transport and storage also goes contrary tothe interests of the pharmaceutical sector. This research investigates thepreservation and storage of temperature-sensitive medicines in its specializedsupply-chain (referred to as “cold chain”) and finds that while the import ofactive ingredients is rather well managed and controlled with storage atwithin the desired temperatures; the distribution-chain needs to be moreadaptive of the standards in-order to better preserve efficacy of the medicines.Nevertheless, long hours of power black-outs (a common occurrence inPakistan and other developing nations) further guarantee the deterioration oftemperature-sensitive medicines stored at the chemist-shops. It is therefore,recommended that temperature-sensitive medicines should only be dispensedfrom stores that have standby-power
关键词：Pharmaceutical industry; cold supply chain; temperature sensitive medicines;imported medicines
