The government should make the needed rules and regulations to ensure transparent enforcement of the drugs control ordinance in the interest of consumer safety, rights activists demanded on Saturday.
They told a workshop that in the absence of printed rules and regulations vested quarters and influential elements interpret and enforce the law according to their convenience.
They called it regrettable that no rules or regulations were made since the ordinance was promulgated in 1982.
Thy said that the rules and regulations should be available to all users so that the vested quarters could no more interpret the law to suit their convenience.
They were speaking at the workshop on 'Health Security of People: Control and Use of Drugs and Mass Awareness' organised by Bangladesh Legal Aid and Service Trust at Bangladesh Institute of Administration and Management in the city.
They called for setting up of drug courts led by magistrates under the drug administration for trying all drug related offences including deaths caused by spurious or substandard medicines.
Selim Azad Chowdhury, president of BLAST's project on consumer safety and public accountability in Bangladesh relating to drug regulatory affairs said that the government's health policy should require all hospitals and drug stores to have pharmacists.
He said that new drugs have to be sent abroad for testing due to inadequacies at the the countries backdated drug testing laboratories. He said that it makes the exercise very expensive and time consuming.
Chowdhury said that legal action should be taken against approximately two lakh drug stores operating in the country without drug licences.
Former vice chancellor of Gono Bishwabidyalay Kashem Chowdhury said medicine cannot be treated as a commodity.
He said that as the patients have to buy medicines prescribed by physicians, the government should fix the price of medicines available in the market.
He said that except for 117 essential drugs, medicine price is fixed at the sweet will of pharmaceutical companies and not under the principles of open market policy.
Health service director general Khandaker M Shefayetullah said that the government can by improving the management of its hospitals meet 96 per cent requirement of medicines of the patients.
He also said that the finance ministry remains unconvinced about the performance of the health ministry as each year it cannot utilise a large portion of the fund allocated to it in the national budget.
To ensure quality treatment, Shefayetullah said that the doctors should write detailed instruction in Bangla in the prescription.
He also advised the doctors to prescribe common and available medicines to their patients.
Among others, prime minister's adviser for health Syed Modasser Ali and BMA secretary general Sharfuddin Ahmed attended the session.
Source : New Age
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