Punjab Chief Minister Mian Shahbaz Sharif chaired a meeting on Sunday to review the progress on steps taken to improve the healthcare facilities in the province. Addressing the meeting, the Chief Minister said provision of quality and modern medical facilities and standardised medicines to people was his mission which would be fulfilled at any cost.
He vowed to eliminate business of fake and substandard medicines from the province. Punjab government, he added, introduced modern system of purchase, supply and distribution of medicines to end sale of counterfeit and substandard medicines. He said samples of medicines were being sent to world's renowned laboratories for examination and 276 samples of obtained medicines were being sent to laboratories of South Africa, Switzerland, Singapore, Thailand and Turkey.
Punjab would be made a province 100 percent free from spurious and substandard medicines, he added. He said it is responsibility of the government to provide cheap and quality medicines to the people. Provision of cheap and quality medicines will be possible if we import generic drugs, he added. He directed to prepare a plan for importing generic drugs. He ordered to crackdown against bogus factories involved in the preparation of counterfeit and substandard medicines and to take indiscriminate action against those involved in this heinous crime. He also approved cash rewards to those who inform about the bogus factories preparing fake medicines. One million is being given to the one who will disclose any such information about the bogus factory involved in preparing counterfeit and substandard medicines, he added.
He said it was very unfortunate that billions of rupees had been spent on purchasing of state of the art machinery which was still packed in the hospitals and was of no use for the patients. The extravagancy of public money would not be tolerated at any cost, he added. He said the Punjab government had provided funds of billions of rupees for the improvement of public health facilities in the province and every common man would take benefit from it. He said if the machinery purchased for the provision of facilities to the masses was of no benefit for them then strict action should be taken against those responsible for it. He directed to prepare an effective plan for proper disposal of hospital waste and to fasten the process of installation of incinerators in the hospitals.