LAHORE, Aug 26: The Punjab health department has failed to launch a campaign against spurious and sub-standard drugs besides checking overcharging by druggists and chemists.
Reports from all over the province suggest that despite the withdrawal of general sales tax (GST) on medicines, the druggists and chemists continue to charge the same from the customers.
Many medicines have ‘disappeared’ from the market and medical store owners say the same have been either withdrawn by the stockists or sent by them to the wholesale dealers.
The Punjab governor had in November last year directed the health department to ensure availability of quality medicines for the public by launching a campaign against spurious and sub-standard drugs across the province.
The department sent a summary to the Punjab governor, putting the blame on “undefined functions of the district governments and unforeseeable reasons.”
It suggested the establishment of District Quality Control Boards (DQCBs) comprising respective districts’ DCOs, EDOs (health), a professor of medicine or pharmacology or a medical superintendent of a DHQ hospital and a senior pharmacist.
The summary was approved in May this year and DQCBs were set up in the province.
The Provincial Quality Control Board later directed drug inspectors to shift all the cases lying pending with the PQCB to the respective district boards.
The PQCB had also delegated its powers and functions under section 11(5) of Drug Act 1976 to its notified DQCBs’ members.
But the department failed to launch the campaign in an effective manner.
In a summary sent last week to the Punjab governor for approval, Health Secretary Hasan Waseem Afzal sought re-promulgation of the Drug (Amendment) Ordinance 1998, which lapsed in April 1999.
He requested the federal government to formulate law to regulate the manufacture and sale of Unani and Homoeopathic drugs.
He also proposed amendments in the Punjab Drugs Rules 1988, duly whetted by the Punjab law department.
The secretary also sought permission to recruit technical members for four drugs courts and hospital pharmacists/drugs inspectors against vacant posts at special salary package of Rs10,000 per month. He also proposed creation of posts and sanctioning of the budget for the newly established Drugs Testing Laboratory (DTL) in Multan, recruitment of essential staff in drug courts and provision of vehicles for the District Quality Control Boards (DQCBs).
The secretary said that the department had in September last year recruited 114 hospital pharmacists/drug inspectors through the Punjab Public Service Commission in BS-17 on two-year contract.
Of them, 41 drug inspectors/ pharmacists either left the job or did not accept the offer of appointment because the private sector was offering very attractive salary package to pharmacy graduates.
The posts have been lying vacant since then.
Under the circumstances, the secretary suggested, the salary package and contract duration for the drugs inspectors should be revised.
Citing another impediment, the secretary said the drug courts chairmen had told the department in a meeting that the drug courts were confronted with quorum problem as the technical members did not regularly attend the proceedings.
The chairmen of drug courts in Lahore, Rawalpindi and Bahawalpur said that they were facing shortage of essential staff that could not be recruited because of ban on recruitments.
During the year 2000, the drug courts disposed of 7,812 cases imposed Rs25.622 million fine and awarded imprisonment in 36 cases up to maximum of three years.
The equipment for the DTL, Multan, had been procured and was being installed. The government should create posts and provide budget because without it the laboratory could not start working.
The drug inspectors working in the field have no vehicles. At least one vehicle along with contingency budget should be sanctioned for the use of drug inspectors/DQCBs in every district.
At present, the health department has a strength of 227 drug inspectors and hospital pharmacists, entrusted with the role to monitor and control the sale of spurious and sub-standard drugs in the province.
There are 34 drug inspectors at district level, eight senior drug inspectors at defunct divisional headquarters, 54 hospital pharmacists-cum-drug inspectors at THQ hospitals level, one chief drug inspector and 130 hospital pharmacists at DHQ and teaching hospitals.
Every drug inspector is required to visit 20 retail medicine shops and take 15 samples every month in urban areas and to visit 15 shops and take 10 samples in the rural areas and send samples to the DTL and PQCB for analysis.
