'Punjab government in contact with DRAP for registration of stents, implants'

The Punjab government was in close contact with Drug Regularity Authority of Pakistan (DRAP) for registering all the implants and stents used in the medical field on war-footing basis, Punjab Minister for Specialised Healthcare & Medical Education Khawaja Salman Rafique, said.
Chairing a high-level meeting, on Monday, to review the steps taken for the procurement and registration of stents and other disposable items and implants, Salman said that stents used in angioplasty of cardiac patients were not produced locally, therefore, terming unregistered stents as fake was not appropriate because statements were creating deep concerns among the cardiac patients about their health.
It may be noted that a high level inquiry was being conducted on the issue of unregistered stents and the Chief Minister Muhammad Shehbaz Sharif was personally monitoring all the matters.
Secretary Specialised Healthcare & Medical Education, Chief Executives of Punjab Institute of Cardiology, Rawalpindi Institute of Cardiology, Faisalabad, Institute of Cardiology, Multan Institute of Cardiology, Chief Executive of Mayo Hospital, Medical Superintendent Mayo Hospital and the representative of PITB also attended the meeting.
Salman Rafique disclosed that DRAP had registered another lot of 22 stents. He directed the committee comprising heads of cardiac institutions and Chief Executive Mayo Hospital to prepare final list of stents within two days. He said that other implants used in orthopedic surgeries, eyes, urology and in other specialties which were still unregistered would also be regulated and process has already started for its registration.
Salman said that after getting final list, he would personally visit Islamabad to meet the DRAP authorities for getting registration of stents on priority basis so that no gap or hurdle would stop the treatment of the patients.
Secretary Health said that a system was being evolved for uniform central pricing for such items and registry of patients who went through such procedures would also be prepared for getting feedback of implanting such devices. He asked the experts of Punjab Information Technology Board to prepare software for this purpose in couple of days to start implementation on the system.