Regulating the Pharmaceutical Industry: An Analysis of the Drug Regulatory Authority of Pakistan (DRAP)

Healthy lives and the longevity of humans over time have critically been dependent upon the availability of quality drugs. Therefore, regulating the pharmaceutical industry for ensuring quality drugs and quality services (like drug dispensing) have traditionally been a priority for governments all around the globe. Pakistan is no exception, and at present has DRAP as its regulator of the pharmaceutical industry. Founded in 2012, few studies have analysed the performance of DRAP to date, and even those are limited in content, coverage and data. Five criteria are used to gauge the performance of DRAP. It does better than its predecessor in terms of quality of drugs and ensuring quality in dispensing, but significant gaps still remain. Poor quality drugs are still prevalent in markets, and questionable techniques (like mislabeling drugs) still persist. Similarly, there are wide gaps in ensuring that the dispensing practices at public and private healthcare facilities. Additionally, the quality of dispensers is still poor.