By Hina Kiyani
ISLAMABAD: The Drug Regulatory Authority of Pakistan (DRAP), in collaboration with provincial and state drug control administrations, has concluded a three-day workshop to strengthen market surveillance, regulatory coordination and quality assurance of medical products across the country.
The workshop focused on risk-based sampling, market surveillance, the Market Control Dashboard and Electronic Quality Management Systems (eQMS), bringing together regulatory officials from across Pakistan to share experiences and enhance their technical capacity.
With technical support from the World Health Organization (WHO), the initiative aims to strengthen coordination among federal, provincial and state regulatory authorities and promote a unified approach to regulating medical products.
Participants discussed strategies to improve risk-based sampling, enhance market monitoring and strengthen the use of digital systems to support regulatory decisions and ensure more effective oversight of medical products.
The workshop also highlighted the importance of coordinated efforts to identify and prevent the circulation of substandard and falsified medical products, which pose significant risks to patient safety and public health.
Emphasizing the need for a stronger national regulatory framework, participants reaffirmed their commitment to improving interprovincial cooperation, strengthening market control mechanisms and enhancing the effectiveness of regulatory operations.
The adoption of electronic quality management systems and improved market surveillance tools is expected to support more efficient regulatory processes, strengthen information-sharing among authorities and facilitate timely responses to emerging product safety concerns.
The initiative forms part of broader efforts to develop a stronger, more responsive and resilient National Regulatory System capable of ensuring that medical products available in Pakistan meet established standards of safety, efficacy and quality.
DRAP and its provincial and state counterparts reiterated their commitment to working collectively to protect patients, improve regulatory performance and promote access to safe, effective and quality-assured medical products throughout the country.
