The Senate was informed on Thursday that 58 cases of spurious drugs were registered by federal inspector of drugs during the last three years. Minister of State for Health Shahjahan Yousuf, while responding various questions in the House, said that a number of steps have been taken to curb the sale of substandard and spurious medicines in the country.
He said that licenses of two drugs manufacturing companies were also cancelled in the last two years for production under unhygienic conditions and manufacturing of drugs without supervision of qualified personnel. However, some Senators including Tahir Hussain Mashhadi and Kulsoom Parveen expressed dissatisfaction, saying that rampant business of spurious drugs was continued, which are posing serious threats to lives of the people.
To a question, the Minister of State said that drug control organisation in Federal Ministry of Health had been strengthened by induction of more technical persons for improving its working. He said that inter-provincial co-ordination had been strengthened for effective checking of drug quality at manufacturer and retailer level. The Drug Testing laboratories have been strengthened in terms of equipment and trained manpower, he added.
He said that Central Drug Laboratory, Karachi has been accredited for compliance with the international standards by ISO 9001 (version 2008) and Total Quality Management (TQM). Besides, he added that extensive surveys of pharmaceuticals units and markets were regularly carried out to ensure conformance of drugs quality with specified standards, adding that crackdown on illegal advertisements for drugs/cure of diseases was carried out regularly to protect lives of the masses. While, inter-departmental co-ordination with police/FIA has been improved to track down the culprits involved in manufacturing and sale of spurious/unregistered drugs, he further informed the House.
Meanwhile, the House referred the matter of appointments in Ministry of Science and Technology, its attached 17 departments to special committee of the House to scrutinise the recruitment against violation of rules and merit. Many Senators including Dr Abul Malik, Azam Swati, Dr Khalid Soomro and other raised objections over the recruitment in the ministry and its attached departments allegedly by ignoring small provinces. Taking the notice, Deputy Chairman Jan Mohammad Jamali referred the matter to the Senate special committee to scrutinise the entire process of appointment in the ministry and it's attached 17 departments.
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