Health standards: ‘Food adulteration to be a non-bailable offence’

Drive against adulteration will first begin for milk, bottled water and vegetable oil sectors.

LAHORE:

Chief Minister Shahbaz Sharif has approved a proposal to make adulteration of food products a non-bailable offence in the province, The Express Tribune has learnt.

He has directed officials concerned to start drafting an amendment to the relevant law which could then be presented before the provincial assembly for its approval.

A senior official who attended the meeting said warnings would be issued to those found involved in manufacturing and selling adulterated products in the first phase. He said action would be taken against them if they do not pay heed to the initial warning. He said bottled water, vegetable oil and milk were the three products which would initially be checked for possible adulteration.

The official said the chief minister had also directed the department concerned to start a province-wide campaign to raise awareness about the impact of adulteration.

Food Minister Bilal Yasin declined comment on whether or not the government had decided to make adulteration of food products a non-bailable offence. However, he said several suggestions were under consideration to prevent manufacture and sale of adulterated products in the province. He said these included making penalties, including imprisonment, on those found involved in adulteration of food products more strict.

‘Kidney and liver centre to get an endowment fund soon’

Chief Minister Shahbaz Sharif presided over a meeting to review work on the Pakistan Kidney and Liver Institute and Research Centre (PKLIRC) on Monday.

He said with the establishment of the centre people diagnosed with various kidney and liver diseases could avail the required treatment facilities under a single roof. He said free treatment facilities would be available at the centre for income-poor families.

The meeting was told that the institute being set up at a 50-acre plot in the Knowledge Park Lahore would also have a research centre and a nursing school.

The chief minister said that the government was committed to reforming the health sector in the province. He said best available treatment facilities were being made available at the teaching hospitals in the province. And, he said, new hospitals equipped with the latest diagnostic and treatment facilities were also being set up.

He said a board of governors (BoG) had already been constituted for the management of the institute. He said an endowment fund would soon be set up for the institute.

He said that highly qualified personnel would be recruited at the institute. He said the staff would be required to attend regular trainings to ensure that they were acquainted with latest research in their fields.

He directed the officials concerned to ensure that the construction of the institute was completed within the stipulated period. He also asked them to ensure that there was adequate plantation at the premises of the institute.

Advisor to the Chief Minister on Health Khawaja Salman Rafiq, the Board of Revenue senior member, the health and higher education secretaries and the PKLIRC BoG members were also present at the occasion.

Published in The Express Tribune, April 14^th, 2015.