It is very painful to know that over one hundred people (heart patients) have died due to use of sub-standard drugs in lahore and many more are hospitalized in serious condition.

All the responsible are trying their best to put the responsibility on each other and politicians are trying mudslinging on their oponnents to gain popularity. It seems our institutions are dying fast and we are near to become a Banana republic, where it is free for all. Supurious drugs is a serious issue and and speaks about the bad conditions of the health care system in Pakistan. Lets share our views on this situation so that atleast drugs are saved from the MAFIAS found everywhere in our society.

Let me share my views the following way:

Counterfeit or fake medicines

The Pakistan Manual of Drug Laws, defines a counterfeit drug as "a drug, the label or outer packing of which is an imitation of, resembles or so resembles as to be calculated to deceive the label or outer packing of a drug manufacturer."
According to WHO, a counterfeit medicine is one, which is deliberately and fraudulently mislabeled with respect to identity and/or source.

Counterfeit medicines- a problem of Pakistan

Counterfeit medicines or fake medicines are one of the biggest issues of countries like Pakistan where majority of the people live below poverty line and low literacy rate. The World Health Organization has recently declared that more than 40 to 50 per cent medicines available in Pakistani markets are of substandard quality and Pakistanis spend 77 percent of their household health budgets on medicines half of which may be fake or unfit for human consumption. Pakistan is considered as one of the 13 countries of the world where the manufacturing of counterfeit medicines is on the rise. The situation is alarming, as the country is also alleged as being a counterfeit hub- exporting counterfeit drugs to North America, Europe and Africa. According to some polls, about 60 percent of PAKISTANI citizens fear that they are taking either counterfeit medicine or medicine of poor quality. According to the estimate of experts, the share of counterfeit medicine on the Pakistan market is a staggering 42-60% percent of the total production.
Many people die everyday because of the intake of substandard medicines in Pakistan and the the recent fatalities in the country esp Lahore have skyrocketed literally. The major reasons why people fall victim to fake medicines is the poverty and lack of awareness or education.
One of the reasons of poverty is that the wealth distribution is highly uneven. People hardly manage to live from hand to mouth here, let alone getting today's high cost quality education. As a result they have to depend on the slightest availability of "price discounts", and buy low cost fake medicines. Fake medicines as we know have proliferated in Pakistani market for many years now. Such medicines are easily identified because of their distinct packing with different colours and font styles and low cost. Even the medicines are only a waste of wealth and human health and life, but the poor would even buy it at the cost of their life since they cannot afford the high-cost original medicines. They are mostly not wary of the fact these medicines will not heal but kill instead. In absence of effective post-marketing evaluation of imported drugs, a large number of spurious drugs are being sold across the country in the guise of being original. For example, Centrum (plain, silver, gold), an imported multi-vitamin pill made in the US for various age groups costs Rs 800 to Rs 1,200 rupees for a pack of 150 pills in Pakistan, but in Canada the price of 50 such pills is $28, equivalent to Rs 2,380. There are many other medicines which are sold as fake ones in market.

The reasons of the spread of counterfeit medicines in Pakistan- Who is responsible?

One of the reasons, why such substandard medicines have flooded Pakistani markets killing patients across the country, is a handful of so-called doctors who prescribe such medicines- a practice called Medical Malpractice in the realm of Law. Law defines medical malpractice as professional negligence by act or omission by a health care provider in which the treatment provided falls below the accepted standard of practice in the medical community and causes injury or death to the patient, with most cases involving medical error.

Another factor responsible for the same is the local pharmaceutical industries, which manufacture fake medicines in the name of original ones. Many pharmacies in Pakistan would even sell expired drugs.

Performance of the Drugs Registration Board have also worsened the already enervated situation. In a meeting last year, the registration board had given approval to 4,000 drugs in a single go. How is it possible to evaluate 4,000 medicines in a two to three-hour meeting. This testifies the double dealings of the board here.

Moreover, the problem should also be dealt at the grass root levels.
For example, drug inspectors can also play an important role in eradicating this type of corruption. You know inspecting all the medical stores and referring the sample of medicines for quality check up to the company's lab of the concerned area falls well within the purview of a drug inspector. He is equally responsible for the mess if he abdicates from his actually responsibility and involves in corruption.

The agencies dealing in medicines are also involved in this corruption.

The roots of the whole mess can be traced back to the people at the helm of affairs. Yes you got me- the government.
Government is also to be blamed for the same. The lack of government public health financing (Pakistan is spending on an average a mere 0.5-0.8 per cent of the GNP on health) and the absence of a national health insurance programme. In spite of buying medicines from their own pockets, consumers are still victims of irrational drug use and fake medicines. This also illustrates that Pakistan's national medicine policy has failed to achieve its public health objectives.

Though the present level of the production of counterfeit medicines is acute of nature but it needs to be addressed on urgent basis and a robust health policy should be framed for the smooth running of affairs. It should be considered not only in the light of the infliction of moral and economic damage. The question is about the security of the Pakistan population, our nation as a whole.

I will discuss the measures to be taken to eradicate this type of corruption as the discussion proceeds...

regards

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Real richness is that you are so expensive that no one can buy your character.

Secratery health and MS suspanded, Store keeper arrested, raids on medical stores and pharmacies, lot of expired drugs found in Hospital stores. what can we say on this situation except;

Ki meray qatal k baad us nay jafa say tuba

haye us zood peshema'n ka peshhema'n hona

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/// Aur be ghum hain zamanay main muhabat kay siwa ///

However, the steps taken by the concerned administration are good... In reply to your piece of poetry I would say "nonchalance and belated reaction are a common practice in our country unfortunately".

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Real richness is that you are so expensive that no one can buy your character.

ISLAMABAD: The Supreme Court of Pakistan has taken suo moto notice of the medicine reaction deaths in Lahore.

Notices have been issued to the attorney general, advocate general Punjab, federal and provincial secretaries, DG FIA and IG Punjab.

A Supreme Court bench headed by Justice Tassaduq Jillani will hear the case on Tuesday.

At least 100+ people have died in Lahore after taking the substandard medicine dispensed by the Punjab Institute of Cardiology.

Supreme Court take suo moto notice of medicine reaction deaths

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If you don't have option(s), you are an option.

Lab Report confirms that Drug is sub-standard.


http://epaper.dawn.com/DetailNews.ph...1_2012_002_007

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/// Aur be ghum hain zamanay main muhabat kay siwa ///