Reasonable regulation

With Ramazan in full swing, just as the demand for certain food items spikes, so does the energy in rumour mills about food adulteration, substandard ingredients and poor quality commodities. Some of these claims have merit, others are simply rumours. The problem of poor quality ingredients and substandard products, unfortunately, is neither a Ramazan phenomenon nor limited to fried foods. The problem is of a culture that has few laws, fails to check those who break them and adopts a fatalistic attitude while accepting the status quo.

Regulation of not just food, but also medicines and medical commodities is a complex process, that can only be undertaken by the state. While citizen awareness is important, ultimately it is the responsibility of the state to ensure that its citizens are protected. The right to health and quality products should be a universal right, not just the privilege of few. Thus the new fad of mobile phone based, big data driven, approaches to improve quality may sound exciting and cute, but are ultimately unlikely to bring large-scale change, unless the state creates a system of rational, reasonable and rigorous regulation.



Regulation of food and medical commodities rests on three fundamental pillars. Science that guides the principles of regulation in what is good and what is not. Evidence-based public health on the impact of the products on the health of the population and the legal and judicial arm that enforces the regulations with stiff penalties for those who fail to respect the regulatory framework. This means that the regulatory process has to be dynamic, up-to-date and driven by researchers and public health professionals who can help frame the legal code. The legal code then has to connect with the enforcement arm of the process.



As I worked on my book on drug quality and substandard drugs, I found some disturbing aspects of regulation in Pakistan. In Pakistan, the three-legged stool has only one leg (the legal code and the judicial enforcement) and that too is quite flimsy and at times vindictive and temperamental. The regulatory process is driven by hyperbole, impulse and sensationalism instead of science, rigour and public health. Nowhere in the country do we find scientists advising the regulators, and nowhere in the country do we see educational programmes on regulatory affairs. The regulatory process is not taught as a subject worthy of debate but is often copied from elsewhere and treated as gospel truth. The entire process is often headed by bureaucrats and not those who may know a thing or two about science or public health. They in turn work with the ministry that itself has an abundance of bureaucrats and a scarcity of rigorous researchers. Ultimately, the process of regulation becomes impractical, prone to cheating and subject to whims of those in charge. The loss is not only in the ability of the regulators to act, but also in creating trust in the system. In Pakistan, due to public’s little trust in the regulatory process the system continues to fail even when it tries to do the right thing, because no one trusts it.

As the elections near, regulation in food and medicines for public health and well-being should be a high priority in party manifestos. Regulatory science is a robust, rigorous discipline and one that is not out of our reach. We have well-respected scholars in food sciences, nutrition, public health, pharmacy and analytical chemistry to create a robust advisory council to create, guide and implement strong and evidence based regulatory processes. We also have a strong diaspora in these disciplines that can provide advice that recognises the culture and context. With youth eager to see quality in all aspects of health, what is needed is the will to recognise that 210 million people deserve safer foods and quality medicines.

Published in The Express Tribune, May 22^nd, 2018.

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