The promulgation of the Drug Regulatory Authority Bill 2012 by the government is being commended by the medico-pharma fraternity within and outside the country. The enactment of the Drug Regulatory Authority Bill will help in maintaining a close check on the drug mafia which over the past years has successfully managed to market various fake or adulterated drugs through underhand deals with officials in offices.

A free and robust media has provided a platform over the years to voice health issues prevailing in our society. Intriguingly, the persuasive demands by the pharmaceutical community for the establishment of Drug Information Center (DIC) and a centralized Poison Control Center gained momentum after the transitory devolution through the 18th Constitutional amendment.

And now, after the Punjab Institute of Cardiology incident, which took more than 147 lives, the Punjab Government has forged ahead for the establishment of these two centers.

The action would reduce the burden of health care system threefold in terms of cost, morbidity and mortality.

First, the establishment of DIC will provide free and urgent drug related preventive information to patients at home.

This may include retaliatory measures for adverse drug reaction, drugs’ side effects, drug-drug interactions, drug-food interactions, burn injuries, mental trauma and heart attack and in case of swallowing up of poisons or domestically used chemical by the children; thus minimising the patients’ load on various public and private health care units.

Second, it would promote research with dynamic approaches, especially in applied science subjects, rendering supplementary support to pharma-medical field to expand its scope of applications.

The fulfilment of the erstwhile demand by the Punjab government will also offer a lead for other federating units to follow suit; therefore, creating a healthy competition in the health care system for more optimised medico-clinical dispensations.

Here falls the heavy responsibility on pharmacists’ shoulders. They must make themselves morally obliged to take a lead in providing optimised clinico-therapeutic services to the needy patients, with pharmaco-vigilance approach, because the greatest wealth is health.

Dr. ZAIB ALI SHAHERYAR Lahore