Mushroom growth of Pharma agencies a worry for Govt

Mulling to form Special Taskforce to curb drug menace

Mulling to form Special Taskforce to curb drug menace

Srinagar, Dec 04 (KNS): With government failed to implement the much hyped drug policy, it is all set to use other yard sticks to control the increasing drug addiction cases.
Sources said a new policy is likely to be framed to tighten noose around the increasing numbers of pharmaceutical agencies that have come up in the state in last few years.
The government is mulling to constitute Special Task Force teams and utilize the services of panchayat representatives to closely monitor the working of these pharmaceutical agencies.
Sources in the health ministry said the government has formulated a proposal to monitor the working of the pharmaceutical agencies.
“The health ministry is going to form a team of the experts comprising of Doctors, Professors, Clinical scientists and civil society members to check the functioning and working nature of the pharmaceutical companies that have come up in J&K over the years. The government is also going to stop the increasing number of agencies,” they said.
Besides this, the government is mulling to form a Special Taskforce in communities and villages to eradicate the menace.
“The meeting was recently held where it was proposed that the services of village heads, panchayat heads should also be utilized for framing the Mohalla committees and other forces to identify such elements who are involved in drug distribution,” sources confirmed.
“There is a dire need to address the issue at ground level. It is a social and moral issue and everybody is involved in it,” said a doctor.
The government is likely to take this move in the backdrop of the easy availability of the drugs like Corex, Alprax and Rexcop, which are easily available not only in cities and towns but in the villages also. The doctors and other officials associated with the medical fraternity said the mushrooming growth of pharmaceutical agencies all across the valley is also a reason of increasing drug addiction cases as these drugs are easily available to the youth.
“The mushrooming growth of pharmaceutical agencies is one of the reasons behind this. There are not following any ISO standards. They even don’t maintain efficiency and efficacy. There must be an ethical code of conduct. Blacksheeps are in every profession who want to earn money through illegal means,” said a medical superintendent of a tertiary care hospital.
He said more and more youth are getting addicted to drugs even in villages as well. “The easy access to these drugs,” he said.
Most of the doctors said the drug policy would have helped a lot in curbing the drug addiction and also would have brought accountability and transparency in the system, but unfortunately, the policy is yet to be implemented.
The J&K government had said the new drug policy in the state would be implemented in March 2013, but the policy before implementation faced roadblocks as the stakeholders had threatened of “massive agitation”. (KNS)
 

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