FATA is under the vicious cycle of unrest. Militancy is still thriving even after a decade. Golden tribal values have been erased and the ever-lasting peace has fallen apart.

The fate of many thousands of orphan children is at stake. There are no hopes for the rehabilitation of the handicapped persons. Bureaucrats in the guise of administrators are indifferent to the affairs. Education is an obligatory right of every Muslim, but who remains deprived of it.

The prevailing circumstances were sufficiently favourable for the promotion of every kind of spurious drug in the whole of Fata, including Kurram Agency. Now buying and selling out a fake drug is a normal everyday business in Fata.

The second reason for the mushrooming of fake medicines in Fata is that nearly 99 per cent multinational drug distributors operating in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa stopped their supply to Fata for invalid reasons. Manufacturers of substandard drugs thus occupied the local markets without any resistance.

The spurious drugs business is at its peak in Kurram Agency, including its capital, the Parachinar city. To avoid situations like the one in Punjab, prompt action should be taken by the local authorities in Fata and the Drugs Regulatory Authority at the national level.

I would like to request the Khyber Pakhtunkhwa health minister to take the matter with multinational drug distributors so that they could recontribute their share in providing better health facilities whereas life-saving drugs could be provided first.

DR MUKHTAR ALI Kurram Agency