Srinagar: The Jammu and Kashmir Government will soon implement a policy to check the sale of spurious drugs, the state's health minister announced.
"There was no drug policy in the State so long and the same has been formulated and will be implemented shortly," said Health Minister Sham Lal Sharma at a conference organised by the All India Organisation of Chemists and Druggists here yesterday.
He said the departmental machinery was geared up to check the sale of spurious drugs and 64 drug inspectors had been appointed for the purpose.
"It is a social responsibility for drug companies to manufacture quality drugs to ensure the safety of patients," the minister said asking chemists and druggists to strictly implement the policy.
He said efforts were being made to set up a Nursing Council in the state and the matter had been taken up with the Centre.
"The Government has initiated a massive plan for expanding and improving the health sector, particularly in rural and hilly areas, so that every citizen of the state would be provided free medicare," he said.
Sharma said that despite the turbulence in the state over the last two decades, the health sector had grown considerably.
Addressing the function, Union Minister for New and Renewable Energy Farooq Abdullah called for holding awareness camps in rural areas about the usage of medicines.
He said that people living in rural areas had little knowledge about the importance of manufacture and expiry dates of medicines and steps must be taken to spread awareness on the same.
PTI
First Published: Monday, May 16, 2011, 14:15