The child died of overdose. Two years ago, it was the 17-year-old Khyati Shrestha who had to pay with her life after being abducted with the help of a sedative. The two cases are only the tip of the iceberg.
It is quite common for pharmacists to dole out psychiatric drugs without prescription. It is illegal. But interestingly, the sale of chloroform is apparently not. The Department of Drug Administration (DDA), the only drug regulatory body of the country, has not included the chemical in its list of drugs that should be sold only under strict medical supervision. Not that the DDA has, over the years, been able to keep an oversight over the sale of other potentially harmful drugs over the counter—the medicines that it does list.
The tragic death of Shah has once again highlighted the need for better regulation of the drug market. Recently, it has also emerged that many of the medicines being sold in the local markets are substandard. The once-in-a-blue-moon raids on medical shops are clearly proving to be ineffective. The excuses for this critical lapse in state’s duty are all too common: DDA officials complain the office does not have adequate manpower. Nor does it receive enough funding, they bemoan. In such a case, how can we expect it to function effectively? But the open flouting of the law by medical shops suggests even the available resources are not being utilized optimally.
It speaks poorly of a state when its authorities aren’t even able to punish those responsible for jeopardizing public health and security, both among its prime responsibilities. A few things have to change to improve this sorry state of affairs. First, as the DDA is apparently underfunded and undermanned, and if nothing can be done about it in the near future, it could at least increase its cooperation with Nepal Police to crack down on unauthorized drug sale. That any one of the two agencies working alone cannot do the job is amply clear.
Equally clear is the fact that unless the pharmacists are made to realize it is a grave crime to sell drugs like candies, they are unlikely to heed the exhortation to maintain self-discipline. Even if only a handful of sellers are punished, others will be forced to think twice.
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