ISLAMABAD: The Senate Standing Committee on National Health Services (NHS) on Thursday approved an amendment to the Drug Regulatory Authority of Pakistan (Drap) Act placing dietary supplements and vitamins in the ‘medicine’ category in order to regulate their quality and pricing.

The amendment bill, titled The Drug Regulatory Authority of Pakistan (Amendment) Bill 2020, was moved by PML-N Senator Mohammad Javed Abbasi. It called for the omission of the words ‘non-drug’, used for certain health and over-the-counter (OTC) products.

The committee meeting was chaired by Senator Khushbakht Shujaat at Parliament House and attended by senators Asad Ashraf, Ghous Niazi, Sana Jamali, Shafiq Tareen, the NHS additional secretary and officials from the ministry and Drap.

Senator Abbasi said that the quality and pricing of dietary supplements and vitamins are not regulated because they are in the category of non-drugs.

A number of vitamins are sold over the counter at prices 10 times higher than allopathic medicines, causing some companies to stop producing medicines and instead sell their products in the form of supplements. Drap cannot fix the prices of such products.

According to a statement, the amendment will remove the inconsistency in the definition of the term in the act and help reduce the term’s misuse in the assurance of safety, effectiveness and reasonable pricing of drugs and therapeutic goods.

An NHS ministry official told Dawn that under Statutory Regulatory Order 412, supplements and vitamins are enlisted rather than being registered.

“Once the bill is passed by parliament, we will be able to register food supplements and vitamins,” he said.

Coronavirus briefing

The NHS committee received a detailed briefing from health authorities on the present status of the coronavirus pandemic in Pakistan and future strategies to fight it.

Senators were told that 2.04 million tests have been carried out in the country since February. There have been 6,014 deaths and 254,286 (90.4pc) recoveries, and there are currently 20,836 active cases. There were 11,915 tests carried out in the last 24 hours, 675 positive cases were reported and 15 patients died.

The committee was told that possibilities for virtual hospitals are being explored, which would use healthcare workers to provide assistance and services to patients who cannot travel to hospitals. Details regarding plans to slow down the spread of the coronavirus, ramp up healthcare facilities, make required legislation such as the National Health Emergency Response Act, media campaigns and awareness, capacity building for healthcare workers and financial resources were also shared.

In response to questions about the uneven distribution of laboratories, testing facilities and protective gear, the committee was told that these are decided, established or provided according to the identification of provincial governments and every stakeholder is represented on the National Command and Operation Centre on Covid-19.

Published in Dawn, August 7th, 2020