Health minister Mohammed Nasim assured on Wednesday the country's drug administration agency of taking necessary steps to provide it with adequate human resources to help it run efficiently.
"I shall raise the issue of increasing human resources at the drug administration office before the cabinet meeting on March 5", said the health minister.
He also said he had already talked to the Ministry of Public Administration (MoPA) in this regard.
The minister's assurance came following a request from the Directorate General of Drug Administration (DGDA) officials at a programme, held at the latter's office.
The DGDA organised the function to celebrate ISO 17025 accreditation certification of its National Control Laboratory (NCL).
The NCL recently received the certification from Bangladesh Accreditation Board (BAB). As a result, the lab will help increase acceptance of Bangladeshi drugs in other countries, widen the export to more regulated markets and increase the export volume. Such accreditation certification is a vital step to get recognition of World Health Organisation (WHO).
Addressing the celebration programme, the minister said he was hopeful of receiving the WHO pre-qualification licence by end of the current calendar year.
The minister also urged the pharmaceutical companies to ensure drug standard, as quality is the main key to win the battle with the drug exporting countries.
Mr Nasim also requested the authorities concerned including DGDA and Bangladesh Association of Pharmaceuticals Industries (BAPI) to thwart substandard drug manufacturers.
"Make a black-list of the low-quality pharmaceutical companies and take necessary steps to prevent them from manufacturing," said the minister.
Highlighting the government's endeavour to ensure public health, the minister said: "We are going to employ 5000 physicians in next two months, as part of recruiting 10,000 physicians this year".
Director General (DG) of the DGDA Major General Md Mustafizur Rahman presided over the occasion.
Prime Minister Shiekh Hasina's adviser for private sector development affairs Salman F Rahman, the BAPI president Nazmul Hassan, its secretary general S M Shafiuzzaman and DGDA director Md Ruhul Amin spoke on the occasion among others.
The concerned officials at the function said the DGDA seriously lacks in human resources and logistic facilities to run its activities. The authority needs more than 2,200 employees to execute in full swing.
In his speech, Nazmul Hassan said the BAPI will cooperate with the DGDA to get certification from the WHO and Pharmaceutical Inspection Co-operation Scheme (PIC/S).
Elaborating the country's success in the pharmaceutical sector, he said the country will start exporting drug's raw materials to other countries from the Active Pharmaceutical Ingredients (API) Park within a month.
Speakers at the programme said raw material export will add a new dimension to Bangladesh's pharmaceuticals sector, which exports various types of drugs to 151 countries across the globe.
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