Is the medicine genuine or fake? Easy verification method for citizens has come to light

KARACHI: Federal Health Minister Mustafa Kamal has announced that a ‘barcode and QR code system’ for monitoring medicines is being introduced across the country, through which every citizen will be able to verify the medicine at the medical store.

According to the details, Federal Health Minister Syed Mustafa Kamal visited the office of the Pakistan Pharmaceutical Manufacturers Association, where he was welcomed by Senior Vice Chairman Kamran Nasir and Vice Chairman Athar Nazir Sheikh.

On this occasion, he announced the elimination of fake medicines in the country and large-scale digitalization in the health sector.

The Federal Health Minister said that we always have the fear that the medicine available in the market is genuine or fake, and to permanently solve this problem, a ‘barcode and QR code system’ for monitoring medicines is being introduced across the country.

He said that under this new system, every citizen with a camera-equipped mobile phone will be able to verify the authenticity of the medicine by scanning the QR code on the medicine box at the medical store itself. The grand launch of this revolutionary project will be done within the next 60 days.

Mustafa Kamal said that the federal cabinet has officially approved Pakistan’s first regular and new vaccine policy.

Talking about the importance of Karachi, he said that Karachi alone leads 80 percent of the country’s pharma industry and important B2B conferences are going to be held in the country soon.

The Health Minister, while severely criticizing the country’s situation, said that Pakistan’s streets and environment are factories for making people sick and the biggest cause of diseases is polluted water.

He revealed that 11,000 mothers die during childbirth in the country every year, which will have to be controlled with better healthcare.

The Federal Minister further said that 30 percent of the country’s population is completely unplanned, so there is a need to pay serious attention to the growing population.

He stressed on changing the NFC formula, saying that in India only 17 percent, while in Pakistan 82 percent of funds are received based on the population rate, which is not correct.