Drug Act changes mainly hit producers not sellers

ISLAMABAD: Did the strikers want manufacturers of spurious, substandard and dangerously low quality drugs, which cost countless lives every year in Pakistan, go scot-free?

If this was not the demand of the agitators, who closed their businesses against certain amendments in the Drug Act made by the Punjab Assembly, what else they wanted by loudly protesting.

While having a cursory look at the amendments made five days ago on February 8, no person, who has not lost his senses and who has some regard for precious human lives, would find the present changes irrational, oppressive and harsh, targeting the industry, which is making billions of profits and also contributing to the national exchequer through taxes and duties.

In reality, these amendments are already much delayed and were required to have been introduced decades ago because a country like Pakistan is plagued by counterfeit drugs with successive governments being guilty of criminal negligence to check this menace.

The changes in the Drug Act enhance the importance of Punjab quality control board, chief drugs controller and drug testing laboratories and increase punishments for offences relating to spurious and substandard drugs.

Almost all medical stores do not have pharmacists. The amendments prescribe such qualified experts. There is a dearth of registered medicines at the drug stores, while unregistered (herbal) medicines are always available. The government has said the stores with unregistered medicines would not only be sealed but owners will also be charged a hefty penalty.

Moreover, many medicines are required to be kept in refrigerators, but most of the stores lack the proper place to keep such drugs, compromising on their quality. The Punjab government has decided to penalize the store owners who sell such medicines.

The protesters stressed that being major stakeholders, they were not consulted by the provincial government while amending the law. They also say since the Drug Act was a federal law, only the central government can make amendments in it. It would have been better had the provincial government tried to satisfy the drug manufacturers and others related to this business, who are out on streets.

The amended law also provides that the sale of medicines which are below the acceptable standards will be punishable by imprisonment ranging from 6 months to 5 years and also a fine of Rs1.5 million.

There is a huge proliferation of spurious drugs in the market which are causing miseries to patients. Every now and then, it is reported that fake medicines played havoc to one family or the other. Despite all these tragedies, the business of spurious drugs has continued unabated. The mafia has been uncontrollable having no regard for human lives.

The patients pay for genuine medicines but are delivered cheap counterfeit or substandard drugs. The well-off families always arrange to get medicines from abroad for the mere fact that these will be genuine and unadulterated.

The pharmaceutical producers and not the drug sellers are main target of the otherwise direly needed amendments, which are obviously meant to protect human lives and eliminate the menace of spurious medicines. The medical stores may escape the penalties recommended by the changes if they refrain from accepting fake medicines to sell them. They don’t produce medicines and only sell them. However, by marketing low standard medicines they earn much more profit than what they could get from the sale of genuine drugs.

“A poor patient dying due to spurious and substandard medicines is as gruesome as the innocent killed by bullets. Mafias and cartels will not be allowed to play havoc with people's lives. The amendment is meant to stop production of spurious drugs. Quality manufacturers and suppliers of medicines will be given public appreciation while those selling spurious drugs will be strictly dealt with. I appeal to citizens of Punjab to support us in Jihad against fake medicines. Thousands of lives fall prey to greed of drug mafia every year,” Chief Minister Shahbaz Sharif said in a series of tweets.

Punjab Health Minister Khawaja Imran did a straight talk while commenting on the protest and said there was no law of jungle in Punjab. “Those manufacturing fake medicines will have to be punished,” he warned and vowed not to retract the amendments. He was of the view that the changes did not affect medical stores and are only intended for those producing spurious medicines. He claimed that since the drug stores owe a lot to pharmaceutical companies, they joined the strike.

While the amendments are applicable only in Punjab, protest was also observed in Karachi and Hyderabad, which are beyond their jurisdiction, because these areas have the drug manufacturing units that also supply their products in the medical stores in the majority province.