10 illegal herbal drug units unearthed

LAHORE

Punjab Primary and Secondary Health Minister and Chairman Chief Minister Taskforce on spurious and substandard medicines Kh Imran Nazir raided Habibabad Tehsil Pattoki and captured ten unlicensed units manufacturing herbal/Unani medicines. 

The raiding party confiscated machinery, raw material, prepared medicines and printing material of millions of rupees.

All the premises have been sealed and eight accused were arrested. 

According to a handout issued on Thursday, Kh Imran Nazir on a tip-off had conducted raids along with a team including drugs inspectors of districts Kasur, Okara and Lahore and a police party. Assistant Commissioner, Pattoki, was with the minister.

The unlicensed herbal laboratories which have been sealed included Ahmed Brothers Unani Lab, Japan Herbal Pharma, Master Unani Laboratories, MA Unani Laboratories, SA Herbal Pharma, Rashid Unani Laboratories and Al-Hayat Unani Dawakhana. Police have registered FIRs against the accused and all the premises have been sealed. 

The minister while talking to the media said as per directions of Chief Minister Shahbaz Sharif a vigorous crackdown was launched on manufacturers and sellers of spurious, substandard and unlicensed medicines. He said the operation would continue till eradication of such inhuman and heinous crime. 

Drive: In a drive to highlight negative impacts of polythene bags, Lahore Waste Management Company (LWMC) organised awareness drive at Gulshan-e-Iqbal Park on Thursday.

Officials said a large number of schoolchildren joined the awareness campaign organised in collaboration with Directorate General Public Relations, Punjab. It was aimed to sensitise the masses about harmful impact of polythene bags in routine life.  LWMC Deputy General Manager (Operations) Asif Iqbal, Deputy Manager (Communication) Muhammad Umair and representatives from local union councils and sanitary workers and parks administration were also present. 

The children held a walk by holding banners and placards along the drain adjacent to the park. While doing waste and plastic bag picking activity at Gulshan-e-Iqbal Park, the children requested the people to reduce the use of polythene bags along with ensuring proper disposal of waste to protect environment from harmful impacts of both polythene bags and garbage. 

Asif Iqbal said that LWMC along with Environment Department and all other authorities concerned was ensuring the implementation of standard procedures necessary for disposal of waste.

COMPETITION: A speech and art competition under Albayrak School Awareness Plan was held at City District Government Girl High School, Mughalpura on Thursday. 

The activity aimed to create awareness among the students to keep their surroundings clean and waste free.

The topic for of speech was “Har Jagah Ham Samjhen Apna Ghar”. The students highlighted the importance of cleanliness with drawings and models. Senior Manager Operations of Albayrak Huseyin Kartal joined the event and applauded the abilities of students. Prize distribution ceremony was held at the end of the activity.

MoU: A memorandum of understanding (MoU) has been inked between the government of Gilgit-Baltistan (GB) and the Punjab Urban Unit for cooperation in urban planning and development, institutional development, service delivery, institutional design, MIS, GIS and capacity development in Gilgit-Baltistan. The MoU, which would be valid for the next five years, will focus on gaining mutual benefits through consultations and cooperation and agreements.

According to a press release issued here on Thursday, the MoU was signed by GB Chief Secretary Sultan Skindar Raja and Urban Unit CEO Dr Nasir Javed. Imran Ali Sultan, DG, Gilgit-Baltistan and Abid Hussainy, senior capacity development specialist, Urban Unit, were also present.

Consultation: The Punjab Planning and Development Department in collaboration with Punjab Economic Research Institute (PERI) organised a consultative session on ‘Review of Medical Teaching Facilities’  based on a study jointly conducted by P&D and Contech  International at P&D Complex, Lahore. P&D Punjab Chairman Jahanzeb Khan, Dr Shabana Haider, vice-chancellors of University of Health Sciences and King Edward Medical University, representatives of Specialised Healthcare and Medical Education Department and members of P&D Board participated an integral part of the session. Representatives from both private and public sector medical colleges, Postgraduate Medical Institute and Children Hospital and Institute of Child Health attended the session. 

The participants gave their valuable comments on various issues regarding facilities and medical education problems. The comments are to be incorporated in the final version of the ‘Review on Medical Teaching Facilities.’ The P&D Board chairman noted down all the comments and suggestions shared by the participants. It was assured that the quality of medical education and establishment of faulty capacity building centres would be priority areas for consideration of Punjab government.