The Drug Regulatory Authority of Pakistan (DRAP) informed the Senate Standing Committee on National Health Services Regulations and Coordination on Thursday that new requirements have been formulated in light of World Health Organization (WHO) guidelines and it will prove helpful in enhancing exports of medicines
The meeting of the committee, held with Senator Dr. Muhammad Humayun Mohmand in the chair, took up the matter related to the requirement of Common Technical Documents (CTD) for new medicine manufacturing companies.
DRAP officials informed the committee that new requirements have been formulated in light of World Health Organization (WHO) guidelines and will prove helpful in enhancing exports of medicines.
Senator Sardar Shafiq Tareen questioned whether the new requirements will be applied only to the new medicine industry or to the old ones also. In reply to that, officials informed that the new requirements will be implemented retrospectively. The committee disposed of the matter after a detailed deliberation.
Earlier, the meeting commenced with deliberation on the bill titled Prime University of Nursing Sciences Technology Islamabad Bill 2022 moved by Senator Naseebullah Bazai. The chair deferred the matter, commenting that the university did not submit the required documentation with the HEC and that the matter will be taken up once the documentation process is completed.
The senate body also discussed the bill titled Pakistan Pharmacy (Amendment) Bill 2022. Senator Mushtaq Ahmed, the mover of the bill, apprised the committee that almost all the reservations of both doctors and pharmacists have been redressed with a few remaining which will be sorted out in the next meeting.
Senator Dr. Humayun Mohmand suggested that the medicines prescribed by doctors should have a proper record because it serves as a cornerstone in bringing down the evil alliance of pharmaceutical companies and doctors. The chair deferred the matter till the next meeting.
The meeting was attended by Senators Prof. Dr. Mehr Taj Roghani, Muhammad Shafiq Tareen, Naseebullah Bazai, Rubina Khalid, Sana Jamali, Mushtaq Ahmed Khan, Secretary NHSRC and other concerned officers were also in attendance.
