PESHAWAR: The government has set up Directorate General of Drug Control and Pharmacy Services as an attached department of health to exclusively look after drug-related matters in the province.

The establishment and administration department on November 20 notified Directorate General of Drug Control and Pharmacy Services as an attached department of health with a view to ensure strict enforcement of regulations regarding drugs, strengthen laboratories and supervise the activities of inspectors in the market.

The new entity will ensure that people receive quality and safe medicines at affordable prices. Prior to the notification, a small drug cell was located in the offices of Directorate General Health Services (DGHS). It will become part of the new entity to operate under health secretary directly.

Directorate General of Drug Control and Pharmacy Services will operate under health secretary

Khyber Pakhtunkhwa has become the first province in the country to establish separate directorate general for pharmacy services.

An amendment has been incorporated to KP Rules of Business, 1985 by virtue of which a new department has been created that will consist of four main braches, all separately working under a director-general.

It will monitor the drug purchase and procurement throughout the province and see if the pre-purchase terms and conditions have been followed and the people receive the approved medicines.

KP purchases drugs of about Rs5 billion per year. The province lacked a mechanism to check the quality of drugs supplied to the hospitals after procurement.

The medicine coordination committee has outlined specifications for purchase of drugs, according to which the stuff bought by different hospitals needed to be checked.

The pharmacists would be given professional responsibility in hospitals and they would be part of the morning rounds carried out by doctors at wards to play central role in prescription of drugs, its dosages, quality and reaction and side-affects etc.

Presently, pharmacists at hospitals act as store keepers and perform duty of receiving and issuing drugs.

Like developed countries, pharmacists would be assigned role of clinicians that would shorten patients’ stay at the hospitals besides ensuring proper medication.

Mohammad Ibrahim, the deputy secretary (drugs) at health department, told Dawn they would further strengthen the only drug testing laboratory in Peshawar in addition to setting up three new facilities at regional level in Dear Ismail Khan, Malakand and Abbottabad.

He said that latest technology would be obtained to ensure proper testing of drugs for the safety of the users.

“Quality assurance of drug is key to good medication. The new directorate will also take punitive action against those involved in manufacturing, marketing and sale of substandard drugs,” said Mr Ibrahim.

He said that government wanted the directorate to start full-fledged operations as soon as possible. “We are starting work with the present staff and will re-designate some posts in accordance with our need,” he added.

The official said that creation of the new directorate was aimed at implementing a patients-centric policy with regard to medicines.

He said that government allowed creation of separate directorate following reports that the drug cell in Directorate General Health Services was too small to cope with the expanding drug market and completely focus on measures to enforce strict laws for the benefit of patients.

Published in Dawn, November 23rd, 2018