Islamabad: Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif has directed the establishment of an international-level drug testing laboratory in Islamabad to ensure global standards for medicines in the country. He gave these directions while chairing a meeting on health and pharmaceutical sector reforms in Islamabad.
According to Radio Pakistan, the Prime Minister also instructed the launch of mobile hospitals to deliver healthcare facilities in the outskirts of Islamabad, Gilgit-Baltistan, Kashmir, and Balochistan. He emphasized the need for an operation against spurious medicines in consultation with provincial governments, stressing that fraudsters cannot be allowed to endanger lives.
Shehbaz Sharif urged the development of a comprehensive plan to improve the pharmaceutical sector and regulations, in cooperation with provincial governments. He called for identifying officers within the Drug Regulatory Authority of Pakistan (DRAP) who facilitate counterfeiting, ensuring immediate action against them.
The Prime Minister advised increasing medicine exports through research in the pharmaceutical sector and called for expediting the implementation of the reform program in DRAP. He emphasized the appointment of reputed and experienced experts on merit in the DRAP Policy Board and strengthening the Drug Pricing Committee.
During the meeting, the Prime Minister was updated on the progress of ongoing reforms in the health and pharmaceutical sector. It was revealed that the digital registration system for domestically manufactured medicines is in the final stages. Consultations on the National Medicines Policy are also ongoing and will soon be presented for approval.
The meeting highlighted the appointment of 94 new drug inspectors and reviewed the performance of the existing 25 inspectors. The Prime Minister called for transparency in the appointment process of new inspectors.
It was disclosed that Pakistan’s current medicine export volume is $500 million. The Ministry of Health is taking steps to increase exports, including providing research facilities and establishing an Export Directorate in DRAP. Additionally, efforts are being made to enhance the capacity of the sector to promote the export of surgical instruments.