Below par: ‘Govt must cancel b-category licences of medical stores’

Drug Lawyers Forum says substandard medicine is killing patients in Punjab.

LAHORE: The government must immediately cancel ‘b-category’ licences of medical stores so that qualified pharmacists can establish their business, said Drug Lawyers Forum President Dr Noor Muhammad

He was addressing a press conference at the Lahore Press Club on Monday. He added the government must provide jobs to 6,000 unemployed pharmacists with immediate effect and offer interest-free loans to the industry.

“Pharmacists are medicinal experts and are being discriminated against by the government. If this discriminatory behavior continues, in clear violation of Article 25 of the Constitution, pharmacists will migrate from Pakistan to USA, Canada, Australia, UK, Japan and Europe,” he pointed out.  The forum president said the country would face irreparable losses due to government policies.



He stated it was still unclear why authorities had not appointed pharmacists at all hospitals. He added it was government policy to appoint a pharmacist to each 50-bedded hospital.

“The delay to appoint pharmacists in every hospital raises several questions over the Punjab Health Department’s commitment to provide quality medicines to patients,” he said.

He demanded the government provide Rs5 million in interest-free loans to all unemployed pharmacists.

Published in The Express Tribune, March 14^th, 2017.