Paktika residents want sale of spurious drugs curbed

SHARAN (PAN): Residents of southeastern Paktika province on Thursday complained the sale of expired medicines in local drug stores was unchecked, asking the government to stop the practice.

Druggists and chemists sold the spurious medicine in the provincial capital, Sharan, but no action had so far taken against them, resident Muhammad Omar told Pajhwok Afghan News.

He said the drugs were smuggled from Wana, the headquarters of Pakistan border. The drugs are available at lower prices in the lawless region.

It the government could not stop the smuggling of low-quality drugs in the border region, it should prevent their sale in local stores, he remarked.

Sher Agha, a resident of Orgun district, claimed a number of people had died or seriously fallen ill after using expired medicine. He blamed the government for doing nothing in this regard.

Paktika Shopkeepers Association head Gulzada Hameedi acknowledged expired drugs were being sold in the market. They had time and again informed the government, but to no avail, he said.  “The government should seal the stores selling such drugs,” he suggested.

A Public Health Department official said they had handed traders a list of pharmaceutical companies with good reputation.

Dr Shah Wali said although traders had been asked to buy medicine from the listed companies, they continued to purchase sub-standard drugs.

He added several operations against the stores selling low-quality products had been conducted, but they lacked a laboratory to check the quality of medicine.

mas/ma/mud

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