Pharma Veterans

Eid Holidays ‘Usual’ Confusion – Blog Post #481 by Asrar Qureshi Dear Colleagues!  This is Pharma Veterans Blog Post #481. Pharma Veterans welcomes sharing of knowledge and wisdom by Veterans for the benefit of Community at large. Pharma Veterans Blog is published by Asrar Qureshi on WordPress, the top blog site. Please email to asrar@asrarqureshi.com for publishing your contributions here. Ramadan is nearing its end and the Eid ul Fitr expectation is growing by the day. The Eid holidays are a subject of speculation and heartburn every year, but this is more so this year. Following reasons are contributing to the confusion and bewilderment. Eid ul Fitr is an occasion when everyone working away from home wishes to go home and join the family in celebrations. The enthusiasm around our Eid is no different from Christmas and Chinese New Lunar Year. The greatest movement of people takes place on Chinese New Lunar Year. Their date changes every year but is known months in advance. People...

Impacts of COVID19 Pandemic on Pakistan II – Blog Post #465 by Asrar Qureshi Dear Colleagues!  This is Pharma Veterans Blog Post #465. Pharma Veterans welcomes sharing of knowledge and wisdom by Veterans for the benefit of Community at large. Pharma Veterans Blog is published by Asrar Qureshi on WordPress, the top blog site. Please email to asrar@asrarqureshi.com for publishing your contributions here. Continued from Previous…… While we write this, the third wave is already sweeping the country. There is every day increase in cases and fatalities. We shall come to this later. Economic repercussions are an integral part and logical consequence of any pandemic. From Spanish flu to SARS, decreased demand of goods and services, supply chain disruptions and loss of employment and income was expected and seen. COVID19 is no different. Because of worldwide closures, there was major disruption in production and shipment of goods. As soon as situation got better, the prices increased manifo...

Pakistan Pharma Industry – Q2/2020 – Blog Post #379 by Asrar Qureshi Dear Colleagues!  This is Pharma Veterans Blog Post #379. Pharma Veterans welcomes sharing of knowledge and wisdom by Veterans for the benefit of Community at large . Pharma Veterans Blog  is published by Asrar Qureshi on WordPress , the top blog site. Please email to asrar@asrarqureshi.com for publishing your contributions here . IQVIA is the international company which collects, compiles, analyzes and publishes Pharma Industry statistics in most countries of the world. They have an office in Pakistan which does the same for Pakistan Pharma Industry. IQVIA report is published every quarter for the preceding quarter. Their second quarter (Q2 – April to June 2020) report has just come out. A summary is circulating on the social media. The figures are of interest to Pharma industry professionals who would be keenly playing with the data related to their own products as well as those which may be o...

Decision Making in Present Times – Blog Post #375 by Asrar Qureshi Dear Colleagues!  This is Pharma Veterans Blog Post #375. Pharma Veterans welcomes sharing of knowledge and wisdom by Veterans for the benefit of Community at large. Pharma Veterans Blog  is published by Asrar Qureshi on WordPress , the top blog site. Please email to asrar@asrarqureshi.com for publishing your contributions here . Present times are uncertain times. COVID is still a mystery in the sense that the spread, treatment and prevention has not been fully comprehended. People are becoming jittery after long lockdown and economic meltdown. In several major cities of the world, people have taken to streets demanding end to lockdown. They carry placards saying, ‘Stop Corona Hoax’. It means the governments have lost confidence of people on this count. Governments are also tired of doling out relief packages and are mired in financial difficulties. On the business side, pricing and supply chain is no...

  Post COVID Strategies – Part VI – Sum Up  – Blog Post #367 by Asrar Qureshi Dear Colleagues!  This is Pharma Veterans Blog Post #367. Pharma Veterans welcomes sharing of knowledge and wisdom by Veterans for the benefit of Community at large . Pharma Veterans Blog  is published by Asrar Qureshi on WordPress , the top blog site. Please email to asrar@asrarqureshi.com for publishing your contributions here .   Continued from Previous…… We have looked at various strategies in this series. In this last part, we sum it up and conclude this discussion. COVID is a complex event which has affected all segments and facets of life. An untouched area would be hard to find. At individual level, it affected us emotionally, mentally, psychologically, physically, spiritually and financially. Some people took it very seriously, isolated themselves completely, suspended all social activities and literally went into imprisonment. Others took it more lightly. All th...

Post COVID Strategies - Part I – Blog Post #361 by Asrar Qureshi Dear Colleagues!  This is Pharma Veterans Blog Post #361. Pharma Veterans welcomes sharing of knowledge and wisdom by Veterans for the benefit of Community at large . Pharma Veterans Blog  is published by Asrar Qureshi on WordPress , the top blog site. Please email to asrar@asrarqureshi.com for publishing your contributions here .   Last night at midnight, another tenure of lockdown was clamped without prior warning. We wish so, but it may not be the last such episode. We are not seeing the end of COVID19 yet; we don’t even know when it will be. In this situation, saying Post-COVID strategies seems out of place. However, the inaction is even more out of place because nothing can wait indefinitely. Globally, every day, new ideas are generated, and new strategies are discussed. No one is sitting idle, waiting for pandemic to go away. We are also doing something, though it may not be as innovative...

Challenges of Present Times Part III – Blog Post #350 by Asrar Qureshi Dear Colleagues!  This is Pharma Veterans Blog Post #350 . Pharma Veterans welcomes sharing of knowledge and wisdom by Veterans for the benefit of Community at large . Pharma Veterans Blog  is published by Asrar Qureshi on WordPress , the top blog site. Please email to asrar@asrarqureshi.com for publishing your contributions here .   Continued from Previous…… People Challenges People are part of organization and both are interdependent on one another for existence. People related economic challenges are loss of current income, loss of future income, loss of current, loss of future benefits, longevity of job, Health and Safety. Loss of income – those who were asked to stay at home unpaid or those who were laid off lost income immediately. They may be taken back on the same job later, with the same pay or they may be asked to come back at reduced pay, or they may not be asked to come back. ...

Challenges of Present Times Part I – Blog Post #348 by Asrar Qureshi Dear Colleagues!  This is Pharma Veterans Blog Post #348 . Pharma Veterans welcomes sharing of knowledge and wisdom by Veterans for the benefit of Community at large . Pharma Veterans Blog  is published by Asrar Qureshi on WordPress , the top blog site. Please email to asrar@asrarqureshi.com for publishing your contributions here .   There are no two opinions about the fact that these are trying times. I would like to write about it in three heads; organizational challenges, economic challenges, and people challenges.  Organizational Challenges The organizational challenges are unprecedented. They had not faced such issues before. Particularly in Pakistan, where the average age of most businesses is 20-30 years, this is all so very new. We shall see what has changed in this time. Work from Home – many organizations allowed their employees to work from home, those who could. It applied ...