‘Provision of quality medicines a mission’

LAHORE

Punjab Minister for Primary and Secondary Health Khawaja Imran Nazir has said that provision of medicines of international quality to the people is the mission of the Health Department and no compromise would be made in this regard.

The government wants to improve the quality of medicines and does not want to harass anyone, the minister said while talking to the media and the members of Pakistan Pharmaceutical Manufacturers Association (PPMA) after inaugurating newly-established office of Provincial Quality Control Board (PQCB) in the Johar Town area, according to a handout issued here on Wednesday.

Primary and Secondary Health Secretary Ali Jan, Chief Drug Controller Dr Munawar Hayat, other officers concerned and members of PPMA were also present.

Kh Imran Nazir said that new system based on IT solutions could track the record and procedural activities up to the town level. He appreciated the staff members who had executed their responsibilities within limited resources. He said that the new system would address the complaints of the previous regime and remove the apprehensions and reservations of Pharma industry.

The minister said the government would virtually patronise and encourage the manufacturing of quality medicines at all level.

He said that unfortunately there were some unlicensed illegal manufacturing units running in streets and playing with the health of the people. He warned that strict action would be taken against such elements. He said that the main objective of the legislation was to regulate and to bring things under a discipline.

Earlier, Drug Wing Additional Secretary Muhammad Sohail brief the minister on the PQCB functioning. He said that PQCB budget had been separated. He said that previously only nine-member staff was working in the board and now the number of staff had been increased to 34 who were highly qualified and trained people. Muhammad Sohail said PQCB had different wings, including analysis and evaluation wing, planning and research, validation, accreditation, capacity building and training wings. He said that District Quality Control Board had also been housed in this building.

Moreover, Centralised Drug Sale Licensing Branch (CDSLB) has also been opened in the office. The system of CDSLB would work on the pattern of NADRA and the chances of issuance of bogus licences have become impossible. Punjab Information Technology Board has provided technical assistance and prepared the software for the system, he concluded.

Employable skills: The Competency-Based Training and Assessment (CBT&A) approach ensures better employable skills for graduates in the labour market and plays a vital role in bringing a paradigm shift in improving the perception about the Technical and Vocational Education and Training (TVET).

These remarks were made at an orientation on CBT&A here on Wednesday organised at a local hotel by the Punjab Vocational Training Council (PVTC) in collaboration with the TVET Reform Support Programme, according to a press release issued here. It is funded by the European Union, the Federal Republic of Germany and the Royal Norwegian Embassy, implemented by the Deutsche Gesellschaft für Internationale Zusammenarbeit (GIZ) GmbH in close collaboration with the National Vocational and Technical Training Commission (NAVTTC) as well as provincial Technical Education and Vocational Training Authorities (TEVTAs) and private sector organisations.

CBT&A is a latest training approach in Pakistan, which ensures quality skills training to meet the job market requirements. In this approach learners are trained through practical demonstrations and are assessed on the basis of their competence.

The PVTC officials, including Syed Ghazanfar Abbas and Bushra Nawaz apprised that PVTC is offering CBT&A courses in 54 institutes across the province; where, this approach involves development of curriculum through detailed participation of trainers and experts from the industry.

This unique method of curriculum development and training induces a pre-employment learning mechanism in the graduates enabling them to get decent employment opportunities in the market.

This particular approach also enables the employers to seek relevant trained workforce for efficient work performance.

Dr Tauqeer Ahmad, Head of Examination from PVTC, gave a detailed presentation on the assessment process through CBT&A approach. Participants from private and public sector institutes were also present in this session, where a detailed presentation and candid discussion on curriculum development, its revision process and latest assessment criteria helped the participants to have a broader understanding of CBT&A.

All the Principals of Lahore VTIs, Admission & Placement officers, instructors and imminent people from industry participated in this orientation session.