ISLAMABAD: Over ninety per cent of injections were needlessly used for patients in Pakistan, Nausheen Hamid, Parliamentary Secretary on National Health Services (NHS), said in a meeting.
Health Services Academy (HSA) organised the meeting on the directives of President Arif Alvi. In a consultative meeting held to deal with unethical marketing practices and irrational use of medicines, Dr Nausheen Hamid said over ninety per cent of injections administered in Pakistan were ‘not needed by the patients. However, irrational use of antibiotics, unnecessarily prescribed by the physicians and consultants, led to Antimicrobial Resistance (AMR). She had also called for an action plan to deal with unethical marketing practices and the irrational use of medicines.
Dr Nausheen stated that due to irrational use and prescription of antibiotics, antimicrobial resistance had become a significant issue, especially the XDR Typhoid, which was hard to treat with third-generation cephalosporins.
Meanwhile, Asim Rauf, Chief Executive Officer, Drug Regulatory Authority of Pakistan (DRAP), in a meeting, said that DRAP had prepared a strategy to promote ‘Ethical Marketing by Pharmaceutical Companies and Rational Prescription Practices’. He said it had been forwarded to the NHS, Regulations & Coordination (NHS, R&C) for approval and implementation.
