The International Organisation for Standardisation (ISO) has certified Punjab University’s (PU’s) College of Pharmacy for authentic analysis of drugs.
This makes the college the first of its kinds to achieve this distinction. The organisation awarded the ISO certification 9001-2008 to the college after meticulously examining administrative affairs, research activities, laboratory equipment and expertise. The reports of drug analysis inspected at the college’s laboratories would be considered certified and prepared in accordance with international standards.
Earlier, only the reports of one laboratory in Lahore and one in Islamabad were considered reliable and certified. A ceremony was held at the college’s auditorium to mark the landmark and a pharmacognosy laboratory was also inaugurated on the occasion. Vice-Chancellor Mujahid Kamran felicitated College of Pharmacy Principal Mobashir Ahmed Butt in this regard. He said he was ecstatic that the college had received the certification at its first attempt. Kamran said it was distressing that Pakistan, with a population of over 200 million, had only two certified laboratories earlier. He said similar laboratories should ideally exist nation-wide but this was not the case as befitting attention had not been devoted to the science and technology sector. He said the United States of America had remained a pre-eminent state in the comity of nations by investing in education, defence and the knowledge economy.
Faculty of Law Dean Shazia Qureshi said Pakistan had been blessed with a plenty of talent. She said Pakistani engineers, doctors and scientists had proved their mettle globally. Qureshi said a certain mindset regarding national development had been hindering progress in Pakistan. She said the nation would never be able to join the ranks of developed states if the education sector was not revamped.
Butt said he had first thought of taking the initiative when the use of substandard drugs at the Punjab Institute of Cardiology (PIC) had resulted in some deaths and had created panic among the people. He said the drug samples were sent abroad for analysis. Butt said there was huge discrepancy between the statistics provided by the aforementioned two labs. He said that was when he realised that there was a pressing need to establish a third laboratory that could carry out reliable drug analysis according to international standards. Butt said the dream had been realised now.
Published in The Express Tribune, December 3rd, 2014.
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