ISLAMABAD: Drug Regulatory Authority Pakistan (DRAP) on Tuesday started taking stern action against those violators who are involved in manufacturing illegal, banned and unregistered drugs.
According to DRAP spokesman, computerisation of drug registration record had disturbed the activities of fake drug manufacturers, as some of them possessed fabricated and false documents. Now they are making a hue and cry over the issue and spreading disinformation among the general public, he added.
The spokesperson said that the computerisation of records had enabled officials in the past to disclose the identities of fake drug manufacturers. Talking in regard to the disappearance of documents from DRAP records, the spokesman said that DRAP Registration and Pricing division had denied that any records were missing and informed that the documents were still intact. Contradicting the allegations of an owner of a pharmaceutical company, he said that such baseless allegations were aimed at stalling the reform process undertaken by DRAP.
He further said that new initiatives in drug registration process included, international quality common technical document (CTD) format for drug registration dossier, 2D bar-coding on labelling, mandatory good manufacturing practice (GMP) certified source of raw materials of application programme interface (API), standardisation of drug and specification. These initiatives would ensure the provision of quality drugs to the public, he added.
It is pertinent to mention here that due to stern action taken by DRAP, Federal Investigation Agency (FIA) and provincial governments, suspension and cancellation of drug licenses, registration cancellations, imposition of heavy fines, lodging first information reports, and imprisonment of violators of Drug Act 1976 and DRAP Act 2012, the drug mafia had lost composure and started defamation propaganda in the form of promoting lies, character assassination of officials concerned, registration of fake complaints, and filing of legal cases against DRAP officials.
According to the DRAP spokesman, the authority was determined not to accept any pressure from influential circles and take stern action against all pharmaceutical mafias, who were spreading spurious, fake and counterfeit drugs. The government had vowed to clean this menace in the larger public interest and patient safety, he added.
Furthermore, talking about the drug pricing policy, the spokesman said that a stringent mechanism had been provided under the Drug Pricing Policy 2015, which was implemented in true spirit. The drug pricing committee included all relevant stakeholders from around the country, who recommended the drug price fixation per policy, which was further re-scrutinised and finally price fixation was decided by the federal cabinet, he added.
He clarified that all promotions and postings were made per available rules and provisions, saying that all payments of allowances were also the same across the board for all staff on deputation.
Moreover, he said that the process of recruitment last year was transparent, fair and on merit, which was appreciated by all stakeholders. He invited all professionals and agencies to join hands in eradication of illegal, spurious and unregistered drugs from the country, with the support of all responsible citizens.