ISLAMABAD: The federal government has appointed a new policy board for the Drug Regulatory Authority of Pakistan (DRAP), bringing in respected and controversy-free experts from health management, health finance and economics, drug manufacturing and quality control, pharmacy, public health, pharmacology and biotechnology.
Officials said the reconstituted board is expected to give stronger direction to the DRAP at a time when medicine quality, pricing and supply have become serious national concerns. A notification by the federal ministry of health says these six expert members have been appointed for a two year term. Members have been instructed to attend meetings in person to ensure tighter oversight and more accountable decision making.
Federal Secretary Health Hamed Yaqoob Shaikh will chair the policy board. It is the DRAP’s top decision making forum, responsible for setting policy guidelines, approving budgets, improving governance and ensuring that regulation of medicines, vaccines and medical devices matches international standards. Its decisions directly affect the availability, affordability and quality of therapeutic goods nationwide.
Lt Gen (retd) Nigar Johar has been included as health management expert. The former surgeon general of the Pakistan Army is known for running major public hospitals and managing large, complex health systems within the armed forces. Punjab’s Muhammad Afzal Bhatti, managing director of the Overseas Pakistanis Foundation, has been named the expert on health finance and economics. His background in financial planning, development programmes and social protection is expected to help the board link health spending with long term economic stability.
Sindh’s Dr Naseem Salahuddin, professor emeritus at Indus Hospital and Health Network, joins as the expert on pharmacology and biotechnology.
Also representing Sindh is Dr Izhar Hussain, head of the Institute of Biological, Biochemical and Pharmaceutical Sciences.
Balochistan’s representative is Dr Syed Umer Jan, dean of the Faculty of Pharmacy and Health Sciences at the University of Balochistan.
Entering his second term, he has long advocated improved pharmacy education, standardised retail pharmacy practices and safer dispensing of medicines across the country. Maj Gen (retd) Azhar Mahmood Kayani, an interventional cardiologist and former commandant of AFIC, has been appointed as public health expert from Punjab. He is widely respected for his leadership in cardiology and his work on national health reform initiatives.
Officials said the new board brings together members with clean reputations and strong professional backgrounds across areas central to drug regulation.
The DRAP regulates medicines, vaccines, biologicals, medical devices and alternative health products nationwide. The policy board provides overall direction, approves budgets, sets fees and ensures transparency in how the authority operates.
