ISLAMABAD: The Senate Standing Committee on National Health Services (NHS) was on Wednesday told that pharmaceutical companies are also involved in the illegal sale of controlled drugs.

The committee was told that students use medicines to stay awake for longer and help them study but end up being addicted to these medicines.

Briefing the committee over the sale of dangerous drugs over the counter, Inspector General of Police (IGP) Islamabad Amir Zulfiqar Khan said medicines which should not be sold without prescription are easily available in the city.

“We have arrested 700 people in the last three months in drug related cases. Some pharmaceutical companies are also involved in this heinous crime. These medicines help students stay awake for longer and they end up being addicted to them,” the police chief said.

The majority of consumers, he said, are school and college students. He urged the committee to investigate the matter and that this is another form of drug infestation in campuses across Islamabad.

Committee Chairman Mian Ateeq Sheikh directed the federal police to take strict action against people involved in the heinous crime.

Regarding the matter of fake clinics and doctors, Senator Prof Dr Meher Taj Roghani said there must be a strong crackdown against quacks and that care must be taken that doctors are not harassed in the process. The committee was informed that according to the law, the police cannot raid clinics or hospitals.

Discussing the establishment of the Islamabad Healthcare Authority, the committee was told that under section 6, clause 1 of the Islamabad Healthcare Regulation Act, a selection committee is to be nominated by the federal government to determine areas of expertise and skills required for membership of the board and develop a detailed criterion for selection accordingly.

The committee was told that CVs have been obtained and that the matter is being forwarded to the Cabinet Division for approval.

The committee recommended unanimously that a letter be written to cabinet, saying that the committee must be formed as soon as possible.

The ministry was instructed to make the authority active in a month and that members of parliament who are doctors be added to the Health Regulatory Authority.

The committee expressed displeasure regarding a 15pc increase in drug prices across the board, even where raw material is not imported.

The committee chairman directed the ministry to provide the committee with documentation used to present this case to cabinet. Details of costing were sought as well.

Dr Ashok Kumar strongly criticised the rise in the prices of life saving drugs, which he said were provided at low cost across the world.

NHS Minister Aamer Mehmood Kiani assured the committee that in addition to the requested documentation, the ministry will also provide the committee with a list of reasons for the increase in prices.

Published in Dawn, February 14th, 2019