LAHORE - The elimination of spurious and substandard drugs is priority of the government, CM’s Adviser on Health Khawaja Salman Rafique said on Thursday.
However, the Pakistan Pharmaceutical Manufacturers Association will have to cooperate with the government in this regard, he said. During a meeting, Rafique told the pharmaceutical manufacturers that the government want to promote pharmaceutical industries as thousands of persons are associated with this sector. However, provision of quality medicines to the patients is a joint responsibility of government and PPMA, he said. Rafique said the PPMA’s reservations regarding recent amendments in Drug Act would be addressed. “The main objective of all the reforms is to protect public interest and provision of quality medicines to patients and this responsibility will be fulfilled at any cost,” he added.
Vice Chairman on Spurious Drugs Task Force Kh Imran Nazir, Health Secretary Jawwad Rafique Malik, Secretary Prosecution Deptt Syed Ali Murtaza, Additional Secretary drug control Dr Muhammad Ameer, Director Law, Dr Riaz Ahmed, PPMA delegations members Amjad Ali Jawa, Qazi Mansoor Dilawer, Mian Asad Shuja, Mohammad Zaka, Mohammad Asad, Barrister Haroon Duggal and other officers were present in the meeting. The adviser also directed the authorities to convene a joint meeting of technical committee of the department and representatives of PPMA today in the committee room of DGHS to resolve technical issues and prepare recommendations for the chief minister.