Hangs in balance as remaining competent officer retires in June

Colombo, July 18 (Daily Mirror) - The Law Enforcement Division of the National Medicines Regulatory Authority (NMRA), which was responsible for the detection of the infamous human immunoglobulin racket, hangs in the balance as the remaining competent official retired last June, the Daily Mirror learns.

The Law Enforcement Division, which is supposed to run with a stipulated staff of at least 20 Drug Inspectors attached to its head office, has been functioning with only two experienced officials for many months until June this year.

The Daily Mirror earlier reported about the imminent crisis when the mentioned figure diminished to one when the Chief Food and Drug Inspector of the NMRA Law Enforcement Division went on retirement last April.

Although a scarce number of Drug Inspectors are scattered in district level the main regulation and coordination of drug raids, inspection tours on errant pharmacists and unlawful medicines manufactures had been handled by the two remaining inspectors of the NMRA head office’s Law Enforcement Division.

The NMRA, empowered by the National Medicines Regulatory Authority Act No.5 of 2015, is responsible of protecting and improving public health by ensuring medicinal products available in the country meet applicable standards of safety, quality and efficacy. The authority regulates medicines, medical devices, borderline products, clinical trials and cosmetics.

The role of NMRA as described under its Act is monitored by the authority’s Law Enforcement Division manned by its staff Food and Drug Inspectors.

Chairman NMRA Dr. Ananda Wijewickrama who admitted that the only two experienced Law Enforcement drug inspectors had retired by end of June, told the Daily Mirror that they have recruited four qualified pharmacists as fresh employees to be trained as enforcement drug inspectors and looking forward to hiring more in the future.

The Chairman however said that the last experienced drug inspector who went on retirement in June had agreed to work on another one year contract to train the newcomers, thus to carry out the functions of the crucial body without fail.