PAC orders audit of health dept’s multi-billion-rupee drug purchases

The Public Accounts Committee (PAC) of the Provincial Assembly of Sindh on Monday ordered a comprehensive audit of the health department’s drug procurement worth billions of rupees, citing concerns over the purchase of substandard medicines.

During a meeting chaired by PAC Chairman Nisar Khuhro in the PA’s committee room, the PAC directed the Auditor General of Pakistan to provide technical staff to the Director General Audit Sindh for the purpose.

The meeting reviewed the audit paras for the health department for the financial years 2018 and 2019. The meeting was attended by committee members Qasim Siraj Soomro, Taha Ahmed and Rehan Rajput, as well as Health Secretary Rehan Iqbal Baloch, district health officers (DHOs) and other officials.

Khuhro and Soomro questioned the mechanism of drug procurement and the criteria used to award contracts to pharmaceutical companies. Baloch explained that purchases are made through a tendering process handled by the health department’s procurement committee. In the light of these discussions, the PAC formally instructed an audit of the health department’s drug purchases.

When reviewing an audit para concerning the Chief Drug Inspector Sindh, Soomro asked about the actions taken against counterfeit and unregistered medicines, and questioned why medical stores found in possession of such drugs are not being sealed.

Chief Drug Inspector Hafeez Tunio said that in coordination with the Federal Investigation Agency, 25 FIRs have been registered in Karachi, Hyderabad, Sukkur and Mirpurkhas over the past five months. He said that while drug inspectors are responsible for licensing and checking pharmacies, the authority to seal medical stores lies with DHOs.

Baloch said that permission to register FIRs against those found with counterfeit and unregistered medicines comes from the health department’s Quality Control Board, which is now fully functional.

The PAC ordered that medical stores found with counterfeit and unregistered medicines be sealed and their licences revoked. It also instructed the relevant authorities to intensify the crackdown on such illegal practices across Sindh. Moreover, the committee ordered an inquiry into the performance of drug inspectors across the province.

During the meeting it was revealed that the health department failed to produce audit records for Rs6 billion worth of expenditures. Expressing strong displeasure, the PAC gave the department two months to submit the missing records.