PAC seeks list of firms supplying meds worth billions

38 companies found supplying substandard syringes, drip sets to public hospitals

KARACHI:

The provincial parliamentary accountability watchdog on Thursday sought a list of pharmaceutical companies supplying billions of rupees worth of medicines to government hospitals across the province, along with details of the medicines being purchased.

The Public Accounts Committee (PAC) of the Sindh Assembly, which met with Nisar Khuhro in the chair, reviewed the Health Department's audit paras for 2024 and 2025. Health Secretary Tahir Sangi, PAC member Makhdoom Fakhrul Zaman, medical superintendents, district health officers and other officials attended the meeting.

Khuhro questioned officials about the mechanism used to procure medicines for public hospitals and asked why complaints regarding the supply of substandard medicines were being received.

Health Secretary Sangi told the committee that around 75% of medicines were procured through a centralised system, while 15% were purchased at the local level. He said medicines were procured from companies selected through tenders under the Sindh Public Procurement Regulatory Authority (SPPRA) rules.

The PAC chairman asked how the department checked medicines suspected of being substandard. Sangi said the Drug Control Authority and hospital pharmacists monitored the quality of medicines. Chief Drug Inspector Ghulam Ali Lakho told the committee that medicines were purchased after laboratory testing.

Khuhro directed the Health Department to provide a list of companies from which medicines worth billions of rupees were being purchased, along with details of the medicines supplied.

The committee was also informed that products supplied by 38 companies had been declared substandard following laboratory testing.