ISLAMABAD: The federal government has decided to grant conditional permission for the import of life-saving foreign medicines into the country.
According to sources, it has been decided to extend the permit for imported life-saving medicines for five years, which is aimed at providing immediate medical assistance to the public and saving hospitals from a shortage of essential medicines.
According to sources, a new SRO (Statutory Regulatory Order) is being issued under Section 36 of the Drugs Act 1976, under which unregistered or obsolete but life-saving medicines will be allowed to be imported under specific conditions.
Only government and private hospitals will be allowed to import these medicines, but the condition will be that these medicines will be used only for therapeutic purposes and they will not be sold or distributed in the market. Hospitals will have to maintain complete records of imported medicines, while these medicines will not be used for any kind of clinical trial, research or test.
Sources say that medicines related to cancer, heart diseases and other fatal diseases will be included in this exemption. It will be mandatory to obtain formal prior permission and a certificate from DRAP (Drug Regulatory Authority of Pakistan) before importing all such imported medications.
According to sources, importers will be allowed to bring only those medicines that are pre-qualified by the World Health Organisation (WHO), so that there is no compromise on the quality of the medicines.
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