Owing to insufficient funds, the completion of four drug testing labs proposed in Kochi, Thrissur, Kozhikode and Konni has come to a standstill. Though the Drugs Control Department had submitted proposals to the government with a plan outlay of Rs 24 crore for the labs, government has allocated only Rs 2 crore in the budget.
About Rs 8 crore is needed for the completion of the lab in Kochi alone, sources said. Currently, the department has only one drug testing laboratory situated in Thiruvananthapuram and it has a capacity for testing 4,000 samples a year. Due to lack of modern facilities and shortage of technical staff, all the samples cannot be tested on time and delays the result for even one year. By the time, all the substandard or expired drugs might have been sold out in the market, experts point out.
The building construction of the drug testing lab at Kakkanad has been completed. But the appointment of staff and purchase of equipment are still pending.
P Haripasad, Drugs Controller, Kerala, said that the tender for buying the equipment will be floated within one month. He added that the lab with an estimated capacity of 5,000 samples will be ready by June.
The initial proposal to start the lab at Kakkanad came way back in 2007 and the idea to start the other three labs was envisaged in the state budget in 2010.
“The budget allocation was Rs 2 crore but another `4 crore was also allotted. We are planning to start the construction of the Thrissur lab, with a capacity to test 300 samples, with the amount in this financial year. The labs at Kozhikode and Konni are in the early stages. For the Kozhikode lab we got 50 cents of land near the medical college and in Konni we got only 20 cents and 30 cents more is required,” Hariprasad said.
Experts point out that without the completion of the proposed drug testing labs, the quality of the drugs cannot be ensured effectively.
Though there are 22,000 medical shops in the state, the number of drug inspectors is as low as 45. The actual requirement of inspectors stand at 110, which is another major problem being faced by the department.