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| March 05, 2007 | Monday | Safar 15, 1428 |
Licensing body on health facilities on cards
ISLAMABAD, March 4: The Ministry of Health has drafted a bill to set up a licensing authority to regulate the establishment of hospitals, clinics, laboratories and maternity homes in the capital territory.
Sources told this agency that the bill was being forwarded to the federal cabinet so that legislation could be done to streamline the operations of all public and private sector health units in Islamabad.
They said establishment of the Islamabad Blood Transfusion Authority (IBTA) and the licensing of blood banks were also part of the health ministry’s campaign to ensure safe blood transfusion to the patients residing in the federal capital.
The ministry has also designed a strategy to promote the culture of voluntary blood donation and encourage young and healthy individuals to regularly donate blood. It is also providing screening equipment and kits to all the public and private sector blood banks.
Similarly, the sources said, an IBTA team had started carrying out inspections to regulate and monitor the functioning of the blood banks.
On the basis of the team’s recommendations, only those blood banks will be registered and issued licenses that fulfilled all the requirements.
The sources said a drug testing laboratory equipped with latest instruments was also being established in the federal capital. The lab would substantially help eradicate spurious and substandard medicine, they added.
They said all provincial health departments as well as the one in ICT had prepared draft guidelines and checklists for the grant of drug sale licenses.
The provinces were asked to issue licenses only to registered pharmacists in line with the international standards. They were also asked to evolve a population-based strategy for the issuance of drug sale licenses.
The sources said more than 8,000 medical stores and hospital were inspected throughout the country.—APP
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