Substandard medicines still widespread

[cezene]

KATHMANDU ,april 3 - Around 10 percent of medical retail stores operating in and around Kathmandu Valley are selling substandard medicines not registered with Department of Drug Administration (DDA), the drug regulatory body.
Of the 206 pharmaceutical outlets inspected by DDA in the first eight months of the current fiscal year, around 22 were found dispensing medicines that were not registered with the government. The government had conducted the inspection in medical stores operating in Kathmandu, Lalitpur and Sindhupalchowk districts.

“We have already asked the stores engaged in the malpractice to furnish written explanation stating the reason behind sale of unregistered medicines. If their reasoning is not convincing, we will suspend their business,”

a senior official of DDA told the Post requesting anonymity.

In order to ensure that medicines sold in the market are of good quality, the government has made it mandatory for all wholesalers and retail stores to register the medicine at DDA before introducing it into the market.

Till date DDA has permitted around 40 Nepali companies and 200 foreign companies to sell more than 7,000 different brands of medicines in the country.

During the course of inspection, DDA had also found that around 17 percent of the shops had stored expired medicines and sample drugs that can only be issued by physicians and another 30 percent of the shops had not maintained record of medicines that can be abused by drug addicts.

According to the department, of the 206 shops inspected in the first eight months, around 35 were found selling expired medicines, and another 62 shops had failed to keep records of medicines that can be abused.

Currently, around 2,300 wholesalers and 14,000 retail medical outlets have registered their business with the government, of which around 800 wholesalers and 2,000 retail stores are operating in Kathmandu Valley.

Officials of DDA, however, complained that the department is not being able to monitor the activity of most of the dispensaries operating in the country at regular intervals due to lack of human resources.

“The government has appointed only three staff, including a chief, in the Market Inspection and Monitoring Unit of the department, and they have been given the responsibility of keeping track of almost everything that is going on in the pharmaceutical sector,” the source said, adding - “This is the reason why DDA could not meet the target of 408 inspections in the first eight months of the current fiscal year.”[/color]