ISLAMABAD: In the wake of raids on a number of drug manufacturing units, the Pakistan Pharmaceutical Manufacturers Association (PPMA) on Monday spent a busy day in the federal capital.

Besides speaking at a press conference, around 100 manufacturers from across the country held meetings at the Prime Minister House, the health ministry and with representatives of the Drug Regulatory Authority of Pakistan (Drap).

For about a year, especially in Punjab, a campaign has been underway against spurious drugs. During the campaign, a number of raids were conducted on pharmaceutical factories. Moreover, so far Drap has also received suggestions to cancel the licences of nine companies for producing substandard medicines.

Khawaja Salman Rafique, the adviser to the Punjab chief minister on health, has said the campaign was aimed at ensuring quality drugs.

PPMA Chairman Hamid Raza told Dawn that they had a meeting with MNA Mohammad Safdar at the Prime Minister House.

“We requested Mr Safdar to arrange our meetings with Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif and Punjab Chief Minister Shahbaz Sharif. We got an assurance that the meetings would be arranged soon,” he said.

Though Mr Safdar does not hold any office to deal with the issues of pharmaceutical companies, he is a ruling party lawmaker and also the son-in-law of the prime minister.

“We also held meetings with Secretary National Health Services (NHS) Ayub Sheikh and authorities of Drap and tried to convince them that they should play their role in assuring that action against any firm should not be taken in violation of the rules. If some companies have deficiencies, they should be directed to remove them instead of closure, arrest and cancellation of licences,” he said.

“Though a task force headed by Parliamentary Secretary Health Khawaja Imran Nazir has been set up in Punjab to take action against manufacturers of spurious drugs, 790 raids were conducted on licence-holding factories during the last a few months.”

Moreover, he added, non-technical persons had been taking action against companies and sending recommendations to Drap for the cancellation of the licences without sharing the reports with the firms.

“During our meeting with the secretary NHS, it was decided that a Joint Action Committee will be established in which the federal and provincial governments, the PPMA and other stakeholders would have representations.”

An official of the association, Malik Arshad Awan, told a press conference at the National Press Club that action taken by the Punjab government against the firms was against the law because only Drap was mandated to do so.

He said the provincial government did not have the competency to check pharmaceutical factories.

“Moreover, there is a lot of difference between spurious and substandard drugs. But those who have been making raids on the factories are not aware of the difference.”

He said the prices of medicines could not be increased for the last 15 years. However, recently Drap has decided to increase the prices as per the Consumer Price Index (CPI), meaning there would be one per cent to two-and-a-half per cent hike in the drug prices.

“Currently, medicines such as folic acid, anti-tuberculosis medicines and thyroxin are short in the market because it is not viable for the companies to manufacture them at the existing prices,” he said.

Former PPMA chairman Khawaja Asad said after the meetings he was optimistic that all the issues would be addressed.

“However, if a task force, which is mandated to stop the business of spurious drugs, continues taking action against licence-holding manufacturers, we will have no option but to approach the court and then take to the streets,” he said.

Secretary NHS Ayub Sheikh told Dawn that during the meeting the delegation was assured that rules would not be violated during raids and the companies would be heard before taking any action.

“However, I want to make it clear that those who have been violating the rule will face the consequences,” he said.

Published in Dawn, August 30th, 2016