THE first reaction to the provinces’ resolve to take “coordinated steps against manufacturers and traders of spurious, substandard and fake drugs” should be to hail the move, instead of lamenting the long time it has taken for them to come together on this serious issue. Yet there is still some way to go before there is genuine cause for celebration in circles that have been calling for qualitative improvements in what is being provided to Pakistanis in the name of medicine. This is just the start. The provinces have further resolved to move against “those violating the registration process (of drugs) and fleecing the users” — which means, in theory at least, a crackdown on irrationally priced medicines at some point. It has been decided that the provinces will meet every two months to follow up on these decisions as well as to take up other relevant matters; in this connection, they have promised to work closely with the Drug Regulatory Authority of Pakistan.

Such is the situation that the provinces must start delivering soon on their promise to work jointly from now on. The drugs sector is plagued with all kinds of problems. Not least of them is the lack of application of a common set of standards to judge the quality of drugs available on the market. And, the further one is from the privileged urban centres in the country the easier it is for heartless profiteers in the business of selling all kinds of substandard drugs to play with human lives. Ever since the subject of health was devolved to the provinces there has been a constant demand for all the federating units to get together quickly to ensure the provision of good-quality drugs. Credit must be given to those who have brought the provinces together to realise just how crucial the task at hand is. A collective effort must be made to get to the implementing stage to ensure that all standards and rules are strictly adhered to.

Published in Dawn December 15th, 2016