The health ministry of the Islamic Transitional State of Afghanistan will be shortly appointing an official in India and also in a few other countries, where it is currently sourcing pharmaceuticals. This move is a part of its programme to ensure good quality and standards of drugs and formulations imported into Afghanistan.

Dr M Kazim Naimi, who heads the drug regulatory body under the Ministry of Public Health in the new Afghanistan told Pharmabiz.com that the proposed nominee in each nation will be responsible for sourcing and registration of all the pharmaceutical products procured by the country.

"Some companies are still exporting medicines which do not comply with international quality or standards into Afghanistan. Some of them are of very inferior quality. We are planning to nominate our own representatives in all those countries where we source pharmaceuticals from, as the first step to curb this practice," Dr Naimi said.

However, it is to be decided whether the nominee should be from Afghanistan or from the respective countries themselves. But they will inspect the production facilities of exporters to ensure and certify quality, he said.

The ministry has already finalized the essential drug list and will soon start the process of procuring these drugs formulators and manufacturers who can provide best quality medicines.

Currently, large quantities of substandard pharmaceutical products are finding their way into the Afghan market from India and other bordering regions as there was no effective mechanism in place to check smuggling.

Also, the ministry has set up four divisional zones in different regions, including border provices, like Herat, Mazar, Kandahar and Jalalabad to monitor and check the quality of drugs and formulations reaching the country, Dr Naimi said.