Minister stresses quality assurance in pharmaceutical industry

LAHORE : Punjab Health Minister Khawaja Imran Nazir has stressed that the pharmaceutical industry must ensure quality of its medicines and other products, underscoring that public access to quality medicines is a fundamental right.

He made these remarks while presiding over the 286th meeting of the Punjab Quality Control Board (PQCB) on Wednesday.

During the meeting, Khawaja Imran Nazir highlighted elimination of corruption within the Health Department as his top priority.

He directed the PQCB to expedite and resolve all pending cases of the pharmaceutical industry on a merit basis.

Additionally, he instructed for the swift handling of pending appeals and cases at the National Institute of Health (NIH). The meeting provided a platform to review both regular and pending cases in the pharmaceutical industry.

The minister expressed his commitment to preventing any artificial shortages of medicines across the province, stating that such shortages would not be tolerated. He also acknowledged the essential role of the pharmaceutical industry in contributing to the stability of the national economy. The meeting was attended by Special Secretary Operations Aun Abbas Bukhari, Additional Secretary Dr Qalandar Khan, DG Drug Control M Sohail, Board Secretary Dr Manwar Hayat, along with other PQCB members.