LAHORE, Jan 7: A campaign against spurious and substandard drugs in the province is being delayed due to unidentified functions of district governments.

The Punjab governor had asked the health department in November last year to launch a campaign against spurious and sub-standard drugs to ensure availability of quality drugs for public.

However, the health department could not start the campaign due to unidentified functions of district governments and foreseeable problems while implementing the campaign across the province.

Meanwhile, the health department has sent a summary to the Punjab governor suggesting the establishment of District Quality Control Boards (DQCBs) comprising respective districts’ DCOs, EDOs (health), a professor of medicine or pharmacology or a medical superintendent of a DHQ hospital and a senior pharmacist.

The summary suggests that the district committees will only be authorized to check medical stores and chemists’ related matters. The respective DQCBs will be able to check medical stores for selling medicines without drug sales licences, warranty, expired drugs, storage conditions and qualification of persons running medical stores.

It is learnt that these committees will be able to issue show cause notices to defaulters and hear the cases and file failed cases to their local drug courts.

The spurious and sub-standard medicines’ cases will continue to be heard by the provincial committee headed by the health secretary. The drug testing laboratory director, the provincial quality control board secretary and the chief drug inspector will be members of the provincial committee.

An official concerned told Dawnthat the campaign against spurious and sub-standard medicines would formally be launched after the approval of the summary by the governor.

ORGANOGRAM: Executive District Officers (finance and health), Lahore, on Monday discussed the health directorate organogram in the provincial government and proposals regarding new organogram of the health directorate in the city district government, Lahore. The district officers of finance and human resources also attended the meeting.