At a time when poor patients visiting government-run hospitals are being forced to buy medicines from the market and get their medical tests done from private laboratories, the pharmacies of Al-Khidmat, the charity wing of the Jamaat-e-Islami, have started providing high-quality medicines on subsidised rates to people.Physicians and pharmacists said this while speaking at the inauguration of the Al-Khidmat Pharmacy and Diagnostic Centre at Nipa.
Former chairman of Pakistan Pharmaceutical Manufacturers Association Zahid Saeed said the provision of health facilities, including high-quality medicines and diagnostic facilities, was the responsibility of the state but due to its failure, people were being compelled to buy medicines from the market and get their diagnostic tests done from private laboratories.“In these circumstances, Al-Khidmat is offering quality medicines on subsidised rates while diagnostic services are being offered at 50 to 70 per cent less than the market rates, which is commendable,” the speaker remarked.
Incharge of the Al-Khidmat Pharmacy Services Syed Jamshed Ahmed said medicine was the most important part of a healthcare intervention and if a person did not get effective medicines in the end, he or she could not get rid of their disease.
“If a medicine is kept in a temperature controlled environment, it is dispensed by a trained and qualified pharmacists and the medicine is purchased directly from the manufacturer, only then it can be effective and makes a person healthy,” he said and urged people to buy medicines only from the recognised pharmacies.
