Malaria, dengue: PHC seeks reply on tender conditions for mosquito repellent drugs

PESHAWAR: A two-member bench of the Peshawar High Court has sought a response from the relevant authorities regarding a petition challenging the requirement of obtaining certification from a WHO-approved laboratory for the supply of mosquito repellent drugs for malaria and dengue control.

The two-member bench, comprising Justice SM Attique Shah and Justice Waqar Ahmad, accepted the request to include the federal government as a party in the petition.

The case began with Ali Gohar Durrani representing a private company, who informed the court that the Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Health Department had issued a tender for the purchase of mosquito repellent drugs for dengue and malaria, including a clause that requires participating companies to be WHO-approved. He argued that including this clause in the tender was dishonest, as it aimed to benefit a specific private company that has been supplying these drugs for the past five years, causing significant financial loss to the national treasury through collusion.

Durrani contended that the clause unjustly excluded many companies from participating in the tender, which was not present in similar tenders in Punjab or Sindh, where the Anti-Corruption Department is investigating such practices.

He said that his company was willing to have its products tested in any country and, if found not meeting international standards, would accept being excluded from the tender. He requested the court to allow his company to participate in the tender.