LAHORE, Jan 7: Health Minister Dr Tahir Ali Javed told the Punjab Assembly here on Friday that Drug Act, 1976, would be amended in around three months , making it possible for the provinces to proceed against the makers and sellers of spurious unani, homoeopathic and ayurvedic medicines.
Replying to supplementary queries during the question hour, the minister said a meeting held in Islamabad around three months ago had decided to change the law to remove weaknesses in it.
The law would be amended by the National Assembly which would be implemented by the provincial governments. Finalizing draft was a complex affair but it would be submitted to the National Assembly in around three months, he assured the house.
MMA's Syed Ehsanullah Waqas asked about the publication of advertisements of such medicines in newspapers who wanted action against those selling spurious drugs to unwary people.
The minister had in his written reply said the Drug Act did not cover unani, homoeopathic and ayurvedic medicines. Nevertheless, the health department used to have checked such medicines from the Drug Testing Laboratory.
He said draft of a law to ban the production and sale of such medicines had been prepared. It was Rana Sanaullah Khan who repeatedly tried to corner the minister by saying his written and verbal replies contradicted each other.
The first answer which was prepared two years ago said the draft had been finalized while the second given in the house said it would be finalized in three months.
The minister said drafting and finalizing law for adoption by the assembly was a lengthy process. "One should appreciate the government for taking up the issue and keep in mind that none of the past eras had ever touched it," he added.
Speaker Afzal Sahi helped the minister on more than three occasions by skipping over to the next question whenever the opposition tried to corner him through their supplementary questions.
The first such help came when Rana Aftab named four people, all "Chaudhrys," who were among the recipients of free medicines in Jhelum DHQ hospital. The question was asked by Sheikh Tanvir Ahmad who earlier inquired whether the political personages declared to be eligible for receiving the medicines in the hospital also included opposition politicians.
The minister said the politicians also meant those from the opposition. He said budget for the hospital had been increased. Rana Sanaullah and Rana Aftab again cornered the minister while asking supplementary questions about audit of Sialkot DHQ hospital.
The Ranas fired volleys of supplementary questions as the minister said not a single audit report from the Sialkot DHO from 1998 to 2002 was sent to the Public Accounts Committee.
The objections were settled at the departmental committee level, added the minister. However, they objected to it and said such objections could only be settled by the Public Accounts Committee.
Replying to a question on the establishment of a medical college in Gujranwala as announced by the chief minister some times ago, the minister said the government was considering the matter.
But when an opposition member taunted that the chief minister had announced establishment of the college by the end of the last year, parliamentary secretary on health Dr Farzana Nazir said the commitment would be honoured at any cost.
Speaker Sahi again rescued the minister when Lala Shakilur Rehman asked whether there was any lady doctor in Gujranwala for the postmortem of women. As soon as the minister said one lady doctor was available for the women medico-legal cases, the member narrated several incidents in which postmortem of women had to be conducted in tehsil hospitals in Kamonke and Wazirabad instead of the DHQ hospital because of the non-availability of lady doctor there.
The minister said there was no burn unit in Gujranwala but the city's main hospital had facilities to treat burnt patients. Law Minister Raja Basharat said Rs100 million had been allocated for the up gradation of Gujranwala DHQ hospital which would be released after an approval by the P&D.
PRIVILEGE MOTIONS: Deputy Speaker Shaukat Mazari who later replaced the Speaker referred to the privileges committee a privilege motion of opposition's Uzma Bukhari who said she was misbehaved by some senior doctors of the Services Hospital where she had taken her mother for treatment.
Dr Tahir said the doctors had denied the charge but he had no objection to the privilege motion. Another privilege motion by Rana Sanaullah was kept pending.
Meanwhile, Mr Basharat announced that the assembly would adopt a resolution on the next day of the current session about donating its members' one day salary for the tsunami victims. Rana Sanaullah said the opposition would support it provided it was also tabled on its behalf.