Officials at DDA said that the office has not sent drug inspectors to monitor the drugs market since the last three months in lack of budget.[break]
The DDA said that it does not have funds even to operate generator to run the office during load shedding.
´Due to budget crunch, we have not been able to send our inspectors to monitor pharmacies,´ Radharaman Prasad, director general of DDA, said.
Prasad, however, said that the drug inspectors have been monitoring pharmacies of Kathmandu in coordination with Department of Commerce and Supply Management (DoCSM). The DDA has been sending one of its drug inspectors with the team of DoCSM on Tuesdays to inspect pharmacies.
The DDA said that it has urged the MoHP to release additional budget.
Shyam Kumar Adhikari, another drug inspector at DDA, said that the work at the office comes to a standstill on Friday due to power cut. ´We can do nothing on Friday. Load shedding starts at 9 am and power resumes only at 3 pm,´ said Adhikari.
Adhikari said that the office has a huge responsibility but due crisis of budget and manpower, they have been doing very little. He said that the DDA is responsible to regulate all things related to drugs. The office has to ensure that good quality of drugs are available to public by controlling production, marketing, distribution, export, import, store and use of drugs.
Over 14,000 pharmacies operate across the country. The DDA"s inspectors in the past had shut down several illegal pharmacies that were operating without license. The inspectors had also found that some pharmacies were selling medicines that were meant for free distribution.
Padam Poudel, another drug inspector with DDA, said that such incidents are common and it is the DDA that is responsible to ensure quality drugs to the public.
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