There is a real need to strengthen the health systems for patient safety in Pakistan with particular focus on the government quality control laboratories which is critical. This was stated by World Health Organisation consultants Marium Qaiser and Emma Hancox in a press briefing here at a hotel on Friday.
'It became apparent that there was much potential and competency in the laboratory staff however there was a need in improvement. Furthermore, to meet the international requirements the infrastructure, equipment and systems that run the lab need immense upgrading,' Marium said. The consultants were of the view that effective national regulation of medicines was essential to protect patient safety and ensure the efficacy and quality of all pharmaceutical products available in the market.
It is to be noted that in Pakistan, the WHO extended their assessment to the national pharmaceutical QC laboratories after a fatal incident in Lahore and identified the need to build capacity in this sector to provide assurance of the reliability of the results obtained.
The objective of a government pharmaceutical QC lab is to perform reliable analysis and publish results from medicines already available to patients in the market which have passed QC batch release by manufacturers. These labs should only be used to identify 'out of specification' medicines, which will then be brought to the attention of the regulatory authority in order to initiate an investigation. Reliable independent or statutory laboratory analysis is paramount in a country's fight to protect patients from poor quality medicines. The lab will help to identify spurious medicines; protecting the market and acting as a deterrent against negligence, non-compliance to Good Manufacturing Practices, Good Distribution Practices or matters of counterfeiting. "We need more training, infrastructure and proven guidelines to enhance the standards of government quality control labs," WHO consultants added.
They said this was a huge achievement as it was the first time in Pakistan when barriers were dropped between the public and private sectors leading to open discussions on best practice. This programme has only been successful and can only deliver due to multi-stakeholder collaboration.