ISLAMABAD: The representatives of Pakistan Young Pharmacist Association (PYPA) and Pakistan Drug Lawyers Forum (PDLF) on Thursday accused Drug Registration Authority of Pakistan (DRAP) officials of taking heavy bribe while registering flawed dengue vaccine known as Dengvaxia. Addressing a joint press conference at a local hotel, they said that the vaccine had been banned in the Philippines and the World Health Organization (WHO) also rejected it registration. “To register such medicines meant that the authorities in DRAP have some sort of their personal interests,” alleged Dr Noor Muhammad Mahar, President of the PDLF. He recalled that the vaccine was registered in September 2017 in few countries where Dengue exists, severe reactions were resulted and deaths of children were recorded and vaccine was banned in November 2017. Dr Mahar further said that he contacted officials of DRAP telephonically and inquired that how you gave the approval of this killer vaccine which is banned by WHO. In response, he added, Chief Executive Officer (CEO) DRAP Aslam Afghani claimed that DRAP is not giving approval of marketing of killer dengue vaccine. While accusing DRAP, Dr. Mahar said that the authority is doing nothing to save the lives of over 4000 poor patients who are dying daily due to unavailability of life saving medicines or extremely expensive medicines in Pakistan. Without mentioning the name of any elite pharmaceutical company, Dr. Mahar said “DRAP is only working to enhance the profits of club of 50”. Dr. Mahar claimed that there is Rs 25 billion corruption annually. While giving some details, he said that a Federal Drug Inspector was harassed and posted on special duty, when he investigated and wrote against the few member companies of Club of 50, who were continuously manufacturing poisonous and unsterilised injections”. Other speakers lamented that huge quantity of infected milk being imported by Club of 50 members and sold to infants, which was forcefully withdrew world over but still everything is in grey in the country. The DRAP, they added, used to publish National Formulary with registration numbers, generic names and prices of all medicines registered in Pakistan, then overnight price increase would be near to impossible. But DRAP is only working to increase the profits of illegal medicine mafia. They alleged that a particular lobby in DRAP is taking decisions as per their interests and ruining the health of people. They said that DRAP has registered hormones, which are banned world over to increase the milk production in cattle. These hormones cause early puberty in young girls and develop breast cancer in women. Although Punjab Government asked for deregistration of these hormones but DRAP is part and parcel of illegal medicine mafia and involved in the killing of millions of Pakistanis. We assure our full support and assistance to Provincial Governments against this mafia. General Secretary of the association Dr Hina Shokat said that officials of DRAP are openly getting foreign tours from Pharmaceutical Companies in the name of registration of imported medicines and giving huge lose to Pakistani foreign exchange as the medicine export have decreased from US$ 220 million to US$ 120 million and imports increased from US$ 409 million to US$ 690 million. In last three years, Pakistan has become a market of inferior, substandard, infected and spurious imported medicines. Published in Daily Times, December 5th 2017.