Sindh consuming untested drugs

Although more than a hundred people lost their life in Lahore due to use of substandard medicine Isotab recently, the people of Sindh are at the risk of another such disaster as there is no drug testing laboratory in the province since the last couple of years, Pakistan Today has reliably learnt.
In February 2012, at least 120 people lost their life after consuming Isotab, a medicine manufactured by Efroze Chemical Industries that caused adverse reaction in consumers.
However, the Punjab government has taken serious measures to check the quality and expiry of the medicines being used in the province.
Interestingly, the second largest province of the country with regard to its scattered population, the health authorities are so efficient that they never bothered to take up the non-functioning of the Drug Testing Laboratory in the province, insiders told Pakistan Today. Moreover, the same was also conveyed by senior officials of the health department to the Public Accounts Committee of the Sindh Assembly at which the members of the committee were shocked.
After the sad incident in Punjab, the provincial government took several measures to ensure prior checking of quality and expiry of the medicines being supplied in the province.
However, there is no such testing procedure in Sindh that could ensure the quality and expiry of the medicines being used by the masses at larger scale, the sources added.
Private medicine manufacturers have their own drug testing mechanism that ensures the quality of drugs before dispatching them to local market, but the official drug testing mechanism is not in place, putting at risk life of millions of people.
“Medicines suppliers are delivering drugs to local markets through their own people without going through the official checking process. And, the drug testing laboratory does not exist in the province,” the sources disclosed.
Becoming a little active after Punjab incident, the Sindh government had decided to take some stern measures, including gathering senior health experts to ensure effective enforcement of the Drugs Act 1976 aimed at regulating the import, export, manufacture and sale of drugs in the local markets.
Per constitution, the Sindh government, especially the health department, is responsible for the health of the people and the authorities must ensure availability of health-related institutions and mechanism with adequate resources. However, the apathy of the authorities concerned even for the Drug Testing Laboratory raises eye-brows.
Pakistan Today repeatedly tried to contact Health Secretary Hashim Raza Zaidi to seek his version, but his cell phone remained unattended.