Step Up Surprise Checks
CONSUMERS of medicines and other essential items had long been waiting to see the
government taking action against unauthorised operators of drug stores in town. Their
wishes have finally come true. The Department of Commerce joined hands with other
government bodies recently and busted some druggists in Indrachowk who were selling
medicines smuggled from India. While the task of verifying the composition of the seized
medicines remains to be carried out, there is widespread apprehension that the recent
revelation of fraudulent operators of drug stores in the valley is only the tip of the
iceberg. The fact that the druggists were selling the medicines without the professional
certificate is even more shocking. The reluctance on the part of the druggists to obtain
the professional certificates leads us to suspect the very quality and purity of the
medicines that they were selling out to the public. Most of the medicines seized happened
to be skin ointments. The seizure has pointed at the way people have been undermining the
issue of public health. Nobody should be allowed to play havoc with public health for the
sake of acquiring immediate benefits. This is the second time that the Department has
looked into the issue of unauthorised selling of drugs. As the issue is a serious one
linked directly to public health, no time should be wasted in stepping up the inspections
all over the town and other parts of the country to book the culprits for their heinous
crime. The point worth noting regarding the smuggled medicines is that they have been
brought into the country from across the Indian border.
The government must develop a mechanism of examining the
drugs at the border check posts. Well, it would certainly be difficult to carry out a
thorough laboratory test for each drug coming into the country. Nevertheless effort to
just pick at the drugs manufactured by the unheard of companies from India would help to
address the problem to a great extent. We need not worry too much about the drugs
manufactured by the companies having established names. Apart from taking measures to
verify the purity of medicines for the suspected companies we could also launch a massive
awareness programme among the consumers. When the consumers themselves are cautious not to
purchase cheap medicines and those manufactured by dubious companies, public health will
certainly be protected.
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