Alternate medicines: Hakims, herbalists reject Drug Act 2012

Practioners of alternative medicine told to register themselves in 60 days.

KARACHI: The hakims and herbalists have rejected the Drug Act of 2012, saying that it is a move to end their skills and profession.

In a press conference held on Tuesday at Karachi Press Club, a central secretary of Pakistan Tibbi Pharmaceutical Manufacturers Council, Hakim Naseem Ahmed Qasimi, spoke against the Drug Act 2012.

He said that through this act, the present government has brought all alternative medicine manufacturers under the control of the Drug Regulatory Authority of Pakistan (DRAP). Through an advertisement published by DRAP on June 3, all manufacturers of alternative medicines were asked to register themselves within 60 days.

"Small traders, homoeopathists and herbalists were not consulted when this law was being drafted, and there are a lot of the clauses that go against our practice," said Qasimi.

A group representing the homeopaths - herbal and non-allopathic - had submitted a medicine bill in 2005, which was approved by the National Assembly but was never implemented. "The drug inspectors are not from our field; they don't understand the nature of our medicines," said Qasimi. "Our medicines are compounds and a pharmacist only understands molecules."

He added that through this act, the raw materials for medicine will be imported which are different from the ingredients used by the hakims. "The raw material used in allopathic treatment is completely different than ours," he said. "We make our medicines from locally-grown ingredients. If we use the imported material, our medicines will not be as effective."

The disparity in treatment of doctors and hakims was discussed. "When the doctors prescribe herbal medicines they are never punished but if the hakims prescribe Panadol, he is punishable by law," he said.

Qasimi also spoke against the drug inspectors' claims that homeopaths use steroids to make medicines. "We use ingredients, such as fenugreek seeds and black seeds, that have steroids naturally present in them. However, these are not at all harmful," he explained.

Questioning the fact that the government had passed the Drug Act of 2012 while still retaining the old Drug Act of 1976, he said, "How can we act upon both these separate acts simultaneously?"

Published in The Express Tribune, July 2^nd, 2014.