37 tonnes of expired medicines, food items torched in Balkh

MAZAR-I-SHARIF (PAN): Officials of the Public Health Department of northern Balkh province said on Sunday they torched 35 tonnes of expired medicine and two tonnes of food items.

Najibullah Tawana, director of public health, told Pajhwok Afghan News that nearly four million afghanis worth of expired medicines and food items were collected and burnt.

The expired items had been collected from a number of pharmacies and food shops in Mazar-i-Sharif, the provincial capital.

Tawana said they would continue to prevent the sale of such substandard and outdated medicines and foodstuffs.

He also termed the expired drugs as poison and killer for patients and asked people to help the Balkh Public Health Department in finding such materials.

Engineer Shoaib Safi, head of the Balkh Pharmaceutical Dealers’ Union, welcomed the move, adding that about 276 pharmaceutical companies in Balkh operate under the supervision of the Balkh Public Health Department and the union.

Dr. Daud Ratib, director of the Balkh Public Health Department, said that in the past, the department used to monitor pharmacies in the city two days a week.

He says the state team now visits pharmacies and grocery stores in Mazar-e-Sharif every day to prevent the sale of expired medicines and food items.

He added that the collection of expired medicines and food items would continue and they would seriously prevent such practices.

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