Pakistan launches world-class drug testing lab in Karachi

Karachi: Special Assistant to Prime Minister on Health, Dr Faisal Sultan, has inaugurated the Central drug testing laboratory of the Drug Regulatory Authority of Pakistan (DRAP) in Karachi after upgrading the lab facility to meet the world testing standards.

Dr Sultan said the lab was a major step towards regulating the standards of medicines produced in the country.

He said the DRAP, after upgrading of the laboratory, would be in a better position to discharge its obligations to regulate and promote the pharmaceutical sector of Pakistan.

He hoped the lab would be counted among one of the world’s best drug testing laboratories as the facility had all the required equipment and well-trained human resources.

The government would introduce E-governance system to digitize all the record of the DRAP and import and export of drugs would also be made fully automated.

Dr Sultan appreciated the fact that a large number of students in the country had been desirous to join the profession of medicine. He said 64,000 candidates had appeared in the recently held admission test for medical and dental colleges against only 20,000 seats.

He said just a single case of poliovirus had been reported in Pakistan during the current year as it was a big success of the public health care system of the country.

He said that poliovirus was also not reported in the examination of the environmental samples.

Similarly a countrywide vaccination campaign was being conducted to protect children from measles and rubella virus, he added.

Later, addressing at another programme in Karachi, the PM’s Special Assistant said that a proposal was under consideration to include the topic of diabetes in the just-launched single national curriculum to let the students be made fully aware about the harmful non-communicable disease.

He said that topics of healthy diet, dental care, risks of using tobacco, drug abuse, and benefits of physical activity would also be made part of the curriculum to protect the health of students.