20 medical stores sealed

Islamabad : Islamabad Capital Territory (ICT) health department sealed around 20 pharmacies/medical stores over violation of Drugs Act 1976 during the year 2020. The health teams seized a stock of 23 firms while conducting as many as 602 inspections during the same period.

The authorities had taken out 18 samples of suspected drugs for analysis and declared two "spurious" whereas two found sub-standard.

Talking to this agency, Drugs Quality Control Board Secretary Sardar Shabbir Ahmed said the department had lodged First Information Report (FIR) against two persons involved in selling spurious drugs.

"Despite limited field activities due to COVID-19 and other logistic constraints, the staff was conducting regular raids at the drug stores to ensure the provision of quality medicines to the capital denizens," said the secretary.

Sharing further details, he said around 148 complaints received through Prime Minister’s Performance Delivery Unit (PMDU) were resolved during the last year.

Shabbir said the Quality Control Board, Islamabad was re-constituted during the year 2020 with Additional Secretary Ministry of Health as its Chairman instead of Chief Commissioner, Islamabad.

The board, after re-constitution held two meetings wherein a total of 32 cases of violation of Drugs Act, 1976/DRAP Act, 2012 were presented for decision.

The board issued prosecution permission in eight cases whereas licenses were suspended in three different cases, he maintained.

Cases against two manufacturers involved in over-pricing had been forwarded to Registration Board, Drug Regulatory Authority Pakistan (DRAP) for necessary legal action.

The Pharmacovigilance Cell, ICT operating in Drug Control Section, he said had also issued 12 different Safety Alerts to the public regarding the use of different drugs.

To a query, he said the department, under the supervision of district health officer Dr Zaeem Zia was playing a pivotal role in the containment of COVID infection in Islamabad with maximum number of tests conducted and the lowest positivity rate in the country.