KURNOOL: Even as the AP government is pushing ahead with WhatsApp governance and AI-driven initiatives, the state’s Drugs Control Administration (DCA) appears to be lingering behind. For example, the department’s official website has remained non-functional over the past few months, raising serious concerns over its efforts in safeguarding public health.
A key role of DCA is to make people aware of substandard and spurious drugs it has come across in the state during the quality checks it performs at regular intervals. Post its checks, the administration puts up a list of substandard spurious drugs on its website. No such list has been visible on the DCA’s website during the recent months.
Health experts say such lack of disclosure delays public awareness and corrective action.
There are three laboratories under Drugs Control Administration that test the quality of allopathic and veterinary medicines. Drug inspectors collect around 500 samples every month from medical shops and distributors across the state, which are subject to testing. This way, nearly 6,000–7,000 samples of drugs are examined annually.
On an average, about 2 per cent roughly 120 samples fail the DCA’s tests. In other words, they are substandard. As per protocol, once a drug is found substandard, the department must publish its details, including the drug name, batch number and its manufacturer on its website, besides initiating departmental action against the concerned firm.
With the website remaining inactive over the past several months, the crucial information is not reaching the public domain. Allegations have surfaced that such disclosure is being delayed, so that the substandard drugs remain in circulation and get sold.
In a recent instance reported in Kurnool district, a medicine had been declared substandard only after it had been sold in significant quantities. By then many humans had already purchased and consumed it.
There are similar apprehensions with regard to veterinary medicines.
Public health activists warn that failure to promptly inform the public could endanger patient safety and erode trust in the regulatory system.
DCA in-charge director Panduranga Prasad admitted that the website is not functioning due to technical reasons.
“We are developing a new digital platform with 16 modules. It will be operational soon,” he maintained.
Key DCA statistics
Category Data
Medical shops in AP – 42,000+
Samples collected per month – 500
Drug manufacturing units (small & large) – 350
Blood banks -120
Disclaimer : This story is auto aggregated by a computer programme and has not been created or edited by DOWNTHENEWS. Publisher: deccanchronicle.com
