Islamabad - The Drugs Regulatory Authority of Pakistan (DRAP) on Thursday advised the doctors not to prescribe alternative medicines and health products to patients.
This has been said in a notification issued by the DRAP to the health departments of all provinces, governments of Azad Jammu & Kashmir (AJK) and Gilgit-Baltistan (GB). The advisory issued to all provincial and regional governments has said the medical practitioners not to prescribe alternate medicines and health products. The notification issued in this regard said that Drug Regulatory Authority of Pakistan regulates the Health and OTC products under provisions of the Alternative Medicines & Health Products (Enlistment) Rules, 2014 notified vide S.RO.412 (I) 2014 dated 27th May, 2014.
It said that the food supplements and nutritional products are considered as complementary products and unlike allopathic medicines, they are not categorised as essential medicines which satisfy the priority healthcare needs of the population.
It also said that internationally, the food supplements, nutritional and nutraceutical products are being marketed as Over the Counter (OTC) or non-prescription products. However, it has been observed that the physicians are regularly prescribing these products.