Blaze News - Pakistan

The sale of unapproved and smuggled drugs, medical devices and surgical instruments is at the peak in the markets of Punjab. According to attendants of patients, they are forced to purchase substandard instruments by the staff of the hospitals' operation theatres. They said the use of smuggled surgical instruments, including cannulas, syringes, IV sets and drugs continue in the operation theatres, while big medical stores located around the hospitals were involved in their sale. The Drug Regulatory Authority appears helpless to stop the sale of smuggled and unapproved products. Sources in the authority said its officials were aware of the issue of smuggling and sale of unapproved healthcare products, and they were planning a crackdown against the mafia involved in the business. They said the illegal business flourishing in and outside the hospitals had become a major issue in the health sector. The smuggled and unapproved drugs and instruments are openly sold in the medical stores ...

Although the new academic year began in Punjab three months ago, yet the Punjab School Education Department failed to provide government schools with free textbooks, The Express Tribune has learnt. The summer vacations in Punjab are starting from June 6 at public and private schools while students are tense due to unavailability of textbooks. The teaching community is also confused in connection with giving task of homework for summer vacations as students have no textbooks. On the other hand, the Punjab School Education Department has advised all the chief executive officers to ensure books at the government schools and also assign homework to students for summer vacations. Private schools in Lahore and other districts of the province are engaged in assigning homework to their students, but the situation in around 50,000 government schools is different. Non-availability of textbooks at thousands of government schools in the Punjab has become a serious issue when summer vacations are r...