QUETTA – Officials in government departments are working with the manufacturers and sellers of fake, sub-standard and spurious medicines in the country, especially in Balochistan.
Fake medicines are prepared in Orangi Town and Kachi Galli of Karachi, Pashtoonabad, Marriabad and adjoining areas of the provincial metropolis, sources within the Health department said, adding that anti-social elements filled wheat flour in empty capsules and coloured chemical water in bottles, stamped with logos of noted multi-national pharmaceuticals firms.
The empty capsules and bottles are prepared at MV Tower in Karachi, Neela Gumbad in Lahore and in Faisalabad. “There are 36 drug inspectors in the province, of which 6 are in Karachi,” Director of Drug Testing Laboratory (DTL) Balochistan Amanullah Khan said, adding that per a 2007 directive of the Balochistan High Court, every drug inspector was bound to get checked standard of at least 15 drugs samples collected from medical stores in a month.
However, he said that the Drug Testing Laboratory was receiving on average 120 samples per month when they were to get at least 500. Syed Daad, owner of a local medical store, alleged that fake medicines were being prepared in some localities of the metropolis while some were being supplied to Balochistan from Karachi. He said fake and smuggled unregistered medicines were available in abundance at medical stores.
Talking to APP, Balochistan Chief Drug Inspector Sultan Ahmed said that the drug inspectors were generally honest but black sheep were present everywhere, adding that Drug Act 1976 dealt with allopathic drugs only and there was no proper law to check ‘Unani’, herbal, bio-chemic and homeopathic medicines.
He said some allopathic doctors prescribed non-allopathic drugs after taking heavy incentives and gifts from their manufacturers, adding that Customs was responsible for checking the smuggling of unregistered and substandard drugs. When contacted, some drug inspectors on the condition of anonymity alleged that they could not take action because they were not provided with any facilities to do so.
They, however, admitted that few drug inspectors were involved in taking bribe from manufacturers of fake medicines and medical stores. They demanded adequate salaries and perks if the government wanted serious action to stop the sale of fake drugs. They also sought swift court proceedings in fake and spurious medicines related cases.
No check on sale of fake medicines
