DRAP launches campaign against spurious drugs

ISLAMABAD: Drug Regulatory Authority of Pakistan (DRAP) on Monday launched a three-month campaign against spurious, fake, counterfeit and substandard drugs.

According to DRAP, the campaign was launched with focus on people’s access to quality assured, safe, effective and affordable medicine, under the national goal of ‘Health for All’.

“This is another series, following an earlier three months similar campaign along with provinces that proved very effective in reducing spurious, fake, substandard and counterfeit drugs from the country,” the statement said.

Last year, hundreds of sales outlets and illegal and non-compliant manufacturing units were sealed, while over 1,000 FIRs were registered, and several people were arrested and imprisoned. The body also collected fines of over Rs100 million.

This campaign also aims to improve drug quality through integrated and systematic regulatory compliance with good manufacturing, effective distribution, good pharmacy and sales practices.

DRAP teams, along with provincial and security agencies, would conduct market surveillance, and through inspections and drug sampling enforce regulatory compliance to a higher level.

DRAP teams would also provide guidance to industry and pharma trade for improving the quality of manufacturing, distribution, sales and dispensing of therapeutic goods.

Drug authority teams would meet with heads of Customs, Federal Board of Revenue, Federal Investigation Agency, and other law enforcement agencies for effective and stringent enforcement of regulatory compliance and to resolve various hurdles and challenges in this regard.

DRAP would also organise media engagements and coordinate with social reformers and consumer protection NGOs to mobilise them for public education, the statement said. The drug authority said that people had to be educated to not respond to illegal advertisements for unregistered products with fake claims.

Public would be guided and requested to cooperate and inform DRAP for any availability of spurious drugs or its manufacturing that came in their notice or knowledge. It said DRAP has already launched '2D Barcode' and notified it's regulation for pharma products sales pack, which would be fully enforced from December 2017. This internationally applicable tool, would help people to authenticate and track the drugs via cell phone application, before purchasing, the DRAP statement added.

The authority was developing further systems and tools as per international best practices for ensuring quality drug access and the eradication of spurious drugs. These international practices would be gradually announced and implemented, in the larger public interest for safe and rational use of medicines.