No tolerance for artificial shortage of medicines: Baqar

Sindh Caretaker Chief Minister Justice (retd) Maqbool Baqar on Friday said there is no shortage of insulin (anti-diabetic drug), anti-rabies vaccine (ARV) and anti-hypertensive drugs in the province, and directed the health department to ensure the availability of these drugs in every government hospital.

“I will not tolerate if any patient suffered due to artificial shortage or black marketing of the medicines,” he told the health department.

The CM had received complaints that there was an acute shortage of insulin, ARV and anti-hypertensive drugs in the government hospitals and even in the market.

In the light of the complaint, Justice (retd) Baqar sought a detailed report about the available stock of the medicines in the government hospital and in the market.

The health dept told him that 2,955 vials of the ARV, 84,252 vials of insulin and 2,003,967 packs of anti-hypertensive drugs were available at the government hospitals.

The report regarding the availability of the said medicines in the open market said that 187,138 packs of anti-hypertensive drugs, 20,700 vials of the ARV and 23,486 vials/pens of insulin were available in the market.

The report said that two local pharmaceutical companies, Getz Pharma and Elli Lilly Pakistan, were producing insulin. Of them, the Getz Pharma informed the health department that they were producing insulin in sufficient numbers keeping in view the market demand while the other company said it was facing a problem relating to the import of insulin due to the delay in the approval letter of import from the Drug Regulatory Authority of Pakistan (Drap).

The CM took up the matter with Drap authorities and urged them to ensure timely approval of import letters so that patients may not suffer.

The report said that as far as the ARV was concerned, it was mostly imported as the National Institute of Health (NIH) Islamabad was the only institute in the country that produced it. According to the report, the generation capacity of NIH is not sufficient to cater to timely needs of hospitals.

The CM talked to the federal government to ensure the availability of ARVs in the market. It may be noted that the registration, manufacturing, import and pricing of medicines are within the purview of Drap under the federal government, whereas, the sale of such drugs is a provincial subject.

The interim CM has directed the health department to activate its drug inspectors to ensure the availability of the said medicines in the market and any kind of black marketing or artificial shortage would not be tolerated.

Animals welfare

The Sindh government has decided to launch an awareness campaign for preventing cruelty towards animals, adds our correspondent.

In a meeting chaired by Sindh Caretaker Chief Minister Justice (retd) Maqbool Baqar on Friday, the Karachi Metropolitan Corporation (KMC) agreed to provide six vans to the Ayesha Chundrigar Foundation (ACF) to help catch dogs and control their population through neutering.

The meeting was attended by Interim Tourism and Environment Minister Arshad Wali Mohammad, Planning & Development Board Chairman Shakil Mangnejo, Secretary to CM Raheem Shaikh, Additional Chief Secretary of Local Government Department Manzoor Shaikh, Additional Chief Secretary of Forest & Wildlife Department Najam Shah, other provincial secretaries, Karachi commissioner, KMC metropolitan commissioner and others.

The local government secretary briefed the CM on the rabies control programme, which, he said, had been initiated to eliminate human deaths due to rabies by reducing the incidence of rabies cases in animals, specifically dogs, through effective preventive and control measures.

The meeting was told that the local government department had established 20 centres in 20 districts of the province where vaccination of dogs would be carried out. Under the programme, vaccination of 125,000 dogs across 20 districts would be completed by June 2025.

In Karachi, the local government department has established three anti-rabies centres in South, Centre and Malir districts, while three vaccination centres are functioning in East, Central and South districts

The ACF Foundation CEO said that her organisation was ready to support the government in sterilising the dogs if they were provided with vans to catch dogs. To this, the CM directed the KMC metropolitan commissioner to renovate the KMC’s six old vans and hand them over to the ACF for the purpose.

The CM also asked the Karachi commissioner and metropolitan commissioner to visit the Safari Park, Karachi Zoo and Korangi Zoo and inspect their facilities for the animals.

The ACF chief told the CM that her organisation had set up medical camps for the treatment of donkeys being used in carts. The CM directed the KMC to support the ACF in educating the donkey cart operators to take care of their donkeys and provide proper treatment to the animals in case of any injury.

Justice (retd) Baqar directed the provincial fisheries and livestock secretary, Hafiz Siyal, to activate the veterinary hospital located on MA Jinnah Road near the old Radio Pakistan building.