‘Strategy evolved to eliminate spurious drugs’

Shahbaz says province to be made 100pc free of spurious and substandard medicines

LAHORE: Chief Minister Shahbaz Sharif said here Friday an effective strategy has been adopted to eradicate the evil business of substandard and spurious medicines. He pledged that the province would be made 100 percent free of the menace of spurious and substandard medicines.

According to a handout, while addressing the meeting that reviewed health sector reforms and improvement in the provision of healthcare facilities, the chief minister said that improvement in healthcare facilities is his top priority.

The fruits of resources provided for the provision of latest healthcare facilities to the people and improvement in the health sector should reach the common man. He commended the reforms initiated to improve the capacity of the primary and secondary healthcare department, as wonderful steps have been taken by utilising information technology to improve the core capacity of the department. Effective measures should be adopted to improve the capacity building of all the departments upon such pattern, he added.  The chief minister maintained that success is achieved if one has the commitment and the passion to do something as hard work, determination and passions are a key to success and achievement of goals. Therefore, the core capacity of every department would have to be enhanced to improve the service delivery mechanism and transform the organisational culture.

The chief minister directed that the pace of reforms should be moved further speedily in Punjab Quality Control Board and DG Health Services. He said the DG Health Services Department will have to be transformed according to the latest requirements to make it the best organisation. He said the best, capable and professional human resource should be inducted and AIDS and Hepatitis Control Programmes should be accelerated in an effective manner. 

He said effective strategy has been adopted to eradicate the evil business of substandard and spurious medicines. Similarly, the latest system of purchase, distribution and supply of medicines has been adopted. The samples of the medicines have been sent to world famous laboratories for analysis, he added. He pledged that the province would be made 100 percent free of the menace of spurious and substandard medicines. He said mobile health units have been providing quality healthcare facilities to the people at their doorsteps in remote areas. Therefore, a plan has been devised to acquire 100 more mobile health units. 

The chief minister said that CT scan machines are being installed in all the district headquarters hospitals of the province, while quality healthcare facilities have been provided to the poor through Prime Minister’s Health Insurance Scheme. 

Meanwhile, the poor have been provided free treatment facilities in government and private hospitals through health cards scheme, and this programme is successfully continuing in four selected districts. He told that the scope of Prime Minister’s Health Insurance Scheme is going to be extended to rest of the 32 districts. The meeting reviewed the third party validation report of the programme.

Provincial ministers, including Kh Salman Rafique, Kh Imran Nazir, Dr Ayesha Ghaus Pasha, Adviser Dr Umer Saif, chief secretary, health and finance secretaries, health experts and the officials concerned attended the meeting.