Asim Rauf appointed DRAP CEO

KARACHI: After serving for over two and a half years as acting Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of the Drug Regulatory Authority of Pakistan (DRAP), the federal cabinet approved the appointment of Asim Rauf as the permanent CEO of the regulatory authority for three years, officials in the National Health Services, Regulations and Coordination (NHS, R&C) said on Wednesday.

“The federal cabinet on Tuesday gave approval to the appointment of Mr Asim Rauf, who is serving as the acting CEO of the DRAP since April 2019, as Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of the regulatory authority for the next three years,” an official of the NHS,R&C told The News.

The official said the formal notification regarding the appointment of Asim Rauf would be issued in a few days once the cabinet’s decisions are ‘officially conveyed’ to the National Health Services.

He maintained that since working as the acting head of DRAP since April 2019, Mr Rauf has been granted extensions as the chief of DRAP thrice by the cabinet in the past but on the recommendations of the DRAP policy board last month, his name was forwarded to the federal cabinet for appointment as the permanent Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of the DRAP for the next three years.

It is worth mentioning here that the position of DRAP’s CEO fell vacant on March 17, 2019 upon the declaration of former CEO Shaikh Akhtar Hussain as void due to the submission of an invalid PhD degree from a non-chartered university, which was not recognised by the higher education commission (HEC).