KARACHI, July 22: Hundreds of applicants desiring to open medical or chemists’ shops in the province have been unable to do so due to what they claim is an unjust ban on the issuance of licences for new medical stores, which was imposed about a year ago by the Sindh health department.

The shopkeepers said that they were being deprived of the licence in the garb of the ban notification, which was issued by the health department with “no proper homework and legal grounds.”

“In some cases, drug inspectors have also inspected the sites of the proposed medical stores, but the executive district officers (health) are not in a position to issue any new licence to applicants,” said a few stakeholders, adding that the situation was not only increasing the hardships of applicants but also resulting in the illegal sale of medicines.

The ban on licensing was not allowing the establishment of medical stores in various newly developed areas in many cities of the province, while on the other hand those establishments which had received the drug sale licence prior to the imposition of the ban were exploiting the situation and running more than one outlet under a single licence, which was a violation of the drug rules, it was further learnt.

Sources in the provincial health department said that after a few announcements made by the Sindh Governor’s House and observations made by the Supreme Court of Pakistan, the then secretary of the health department issued a notification on May 10, 2007, which said that the ban was imposed on issuance of new drug sale licences till the finalization of the new policy under the directions of the Supreme Court of Pakistan.

“The non-seriousness of the department could be assessed by the fact that the notification was received by the EDOs some time in August 2007, and by that time a good number of applications for new licences were received at their end, and they had also got those processed, but did not issue the licences,” a source said.At present the EDOs are authorized to process the renewal of licences and grant extension in line with the existing drug rules of the province.

It was in the last week of March 2007, after a meeting held regarding the control of selling fake drugs across the province, with Sindh Governor Dr Ishratul Ibad in the chair, that the Governor’s House issued a press release stating that the governor had underlined the need of strict enforcement of the Drug Act.

While ordering effective measures to control the sale of fake drugs, according to the press release, which was subsequently carried by national dailies, the governor, among other things, had asked the officials concerned to present a comprehensive strategy by the next week to control the manufacturing and selling of fake drugs and had also ordered the imposition of a ban on issuing licences for new medical stores (chemists’ shops) until a final strategy was chalked out.

However, the governor’s order to suspend the issuing of licences for new medical stores was criticized by the representatives of chemists and druggists the next day, and the governor was urged to review his decision pertaining to the ban.

A source close to the proceedings claimed that the minutes of the Governor’s House meeting were circulated for a follow-up after a gap of one month, but there was no mention of any ban on licensing in them.

The governor, according to the minutes, had observed that the checking point of the subject in discussion (sale of spurious, adulterated, substandard and counterfeit drugs within the province) was the retailer. “Some guideline shall be framed; retailers shall be bound to maintain the chain of continuity of warranty, and if action is taken against a few retailers, then the majority of retailers will rectify themselves automatically,” the minutes quote the governor as saying.

Supreme court ban

Another source said that the notification leading to the ban on licensing was issued without any legal ground and any thoughtful exercise. The then authorities and their consultants linked the imposition of the ban to a verdict of the Supreme Court given in a suo motu action on the spurious drugs business in the country, which, however, did not ask for any ban on issuance of licences to medical stores.

The Supreme Court had asked the health ministry to check the prevalence of spurious drugs, ensuring implementation of the drug laws in the provinces besides the presence of a qualifed pharmacist at every drug store.

The court did not ask to stop giving licences, but had directed that new drug sale licences should be issued to those establishments which had registered pharmacists since a sufficient number of graduate pharmacists was available.

“The Supreme Court’s guidelines also called for computerization of all data relating to drug stores/pharmacies both at the provincial level and the federal level, which will also facilitate checking the malpractice of using the name of a pharmacist/qualified person in more than one medical store,” the source added.A officer privy to the monitoring of health concerns told Dawn that lately, it had been realized by the high-ups of the health department that the notification for the ban was issued in a confusing way last year, while on the other hand there were requests from the EDOs (health) to allow the licensing process for newcomers as they had to face enormous pressure in this regard.

Withdrawal of notification

When contacted, the special secretary of the health department, Dr Shafqat H. Abbasi, said the department was actively considering withdrawing the May 10, 2007, notification pertaining to the ban and resume licensing for new medical stores as well, strictly in line with the guidelines and directives of the Supreme Court of Pakistan.

“In future, new medical stores will be required to furnish documents showing that they employed a bachelor of pharmacy at the store, while the already existing licensed stores will be given a six-month relaxation, as is permissible under the Sindh Drug Rules,” Dr Abbasi said.

It is claimed that about 6,000 retail and wholesale medical and chemists’ stores – including those run by private hospitals – are holding valid licences, while another two to three thousand are operating illegally.