ISLAMABAD:
Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif on Monday stressed upon bringing about revolution in the healthcare sector with coordinated efforts and determination by all the stakeholders.
Addressing a ceremony after launching ceremony of digital system for licensing, registration of medical devices, the prime minister expressed the hope that under the new digital system, the applications for registration of medical services and equipment would be decided within 20 days in a transparent and merit-based system.
Regretting the inordinate delays in the registration process of medical services in the past, the prime minister referred to Drug Regulatory Authority of Pakistan (DRAP) as “Drag, not DRAP, as it was dragging the process not for months but for years. The reasons were known to all.”
The prime minister citing issues in the health sector, recollected that during his tenure as Punjab chief minister, he had sent samples of certain cardiovascular drugs aboard for testing after reports indicated a number of deaths in the Punjab Institute of Cardiology, adding later, the reports from London; etc indicated that these drugs were meant to treat malaria and not heart patients which were not handled properly by DRAP.
Prime Minister Muhammad Shehbaz Sharif inaugurates the digital system for licensing and registration of medical devices.
The prime minister said that he had brought Major Gen. (retd) Azhar Mahmood Kayani to Rawalpindi Institute of Cardiology, who by virtue of his hard work and dedication, turned the facility remarkable.
The prime minister underscored that the country needed such like health facilities.
He also recollected that during his tenure as chief minister, his government allocated a huge budget for provision of free of cost medicines at the government run hospitals during 2014-15.
The 60 percent samples of those drugs proved below standards, he said, adding later, under his strict directive, provision of quality medicines free of cost was ensured besides, his provincial government also set up laboratories across the province to facilitate the poor and deprived people.
He also appreciated the Minister for National Health Services Mustafa Kamal for his hard efforts to introduce reforms in the health sector.
