PESHAWAR, Oct 25: Provincial health minister Dr Mehr Taj Roghani has said that a provincial drug regulatory authority would soon be established in NWFP which would not only streamline the drug system but the ever-increasing problem of quackery would also be taken care of with the introduction of the authority.

This he said while speaking at the concluding session of a workshop titled “Acute Respiratory Infection (ARI)” at Naseer Teaching Hospital here on Friday.

Dr Roghani underscored the need of training nurses and  paramedics, saying they had more interaction with the patients and their relatives than the doctors. She urged the nurses to educate the people visiting the hospital about the importance of breastfeeding, hygiene, immunization and birth control.

Acute respiratory infection and diarrhoea are main causes of child mortality in our country, she said, adding that poverty, pollution, overcrowding, irrational use of anti-biotic, malnutrition and inefficiency of various vitamins must be checked.

She said that the open sale of drugs, mismanagement in treatment of ARI and frequent use of anti-biotic had made the bacteria in our country more resistant. With the introduction of the Regulatory Authority, she said.