Citizens For Ensuring Availability Of Medicines At Pakistan Institute Of Medical Sciences, FGPC

Citizens of twin cities of Rawalpindi and Islamabad Tuesday urged the authorities concerned to ensure availability of medicines at government hospitals to facilitate the deserving patients.

ISLAMABAD, (UrduPoint / Pakistan Point News - 13th Nov, 2018 ) :Citizens of twin cities of Rawalpindi and Islamabad Tuesday urged the authorities concerned to ensure availability of medicines at government hospitals to facilitate the deserving patients.

According to them, many admitted patients at Pakistan Institute of Medical Sciences (PIMS) and Federal Government Poly Clinic (FGPC) have been facing hardships due to insufficient stock of drugs at hospitals' indoor pharmacies.

They said patients purchase required medicines from private medical stores and asked the management of both hospitals to manage all required drugs for needy patients.

Amjad Khan, a patient at PIMS said the hospital needs to arrange necessary medicines particularly for those patients who are unable to afford purchasing medicines from outside.

He also asked for taking strict action on artificial price hiking of medicines by some private medical store owners functioning within the premises of hospitals or near to public hospitals.

. He said there is a need to have frequent surprise visits of these medical stores by concerned officials to maintain prices of medicines as per approved rates.

Sohail Khan, a citizen said that Drug Regulatory Authority of Pakistan (DRAP) has an important role to play in this regard to ensure fulfillment of all laws by the medical stores and pharmaceutical companies.

He said it is also the responsibility of DRAP to ensure controlling the prices of medicines on approved rates in the open market.

He also asked to have check on sale of sub-standard and spurious drugs by the medical stores in public hospitals.

He said only experienced pharmacists with having relevant degrees should be allowed to deal with the customers at medical stores operating in the public hospitals.

"While playing with the lives of others, many medical stores avoid following concerned laws while giving the jobs of sales managers to those who do not have even basic knowledge about medicines," a citizen Sadiq Khan said.

He asked to ensure deputing only pharmacists at medical stores with having relevant qualification on the subject to protect the customers from dealing with complications due to use of any wrong medicine from hands of illiterate sales managers.

Aslam Awan, another citizen said pharmaceutical companies should consider the seriousness of the matter and deliver stock to only those medical stores where all concerned laws are followed.

He suggested conducting regular surprise visit by the teams of DRAP to the medical stores in government hospitals to check any sale of sub-standard or spurious drugs besides following other laws including price hike.

When contacted, an official from PIMS hospital said that a strict monitoring mechanism has been developed to have check on the quality of medicines at hospital's indoor and outdoor pharmacies.

He said sufficient quantity of medicines is available with the hospital and there is no shortage of medicine while admitted patients are being given all required medicines.

He said the hospital management is vigilant against the sale of spurious and unregistered drugs.