The Karnataka government has decided to involve private drug testing laboratories for speeding up drug testing and clearance in a bid to check the inflow of spurious drugs into the state. Currently drugs are tested in the government laboratory only and it takes six months to clear.

The state government will be identifying seven to eight such private laboratories in Bangalore for the purpose, according to Kagodu Thimmappa, the state health minister. These laboratories will be asked to do random testing of drug samples entering the market.

The state government is now thinking of asking these shortlisted private laboratories to conduct the tests and submit a report within eight days. Once a drug is found to be spurious in one of these private laboratory, it will have to be sent to the government laboratory for a repeat test before initiating an action against the manufacturer and the distributor, he said.

The health minister said he had taken a tour of the district hospitals in the state to get an account of quality of drugs available in these hospitals. District surgeons of the district hospitals found to be guilty of not maintaining quality of drugs and standards of hospitals would be transferred, he said. District hospitals in Koppal, Gulbarga, Bidar and Chamarajanagar are found to be not maintaining adequate standards, the minister added.

For upgrading the primary health centres (PHCs) and primary health units Rs. 750 crore World Bank project had been taken up and the fund is expected to be received this year, he informed. There were 1,660 PHC and 550 PHUs in the State. Of them 1,000 PHCs would be upgraded and would get facilities like accommodation to staff under the project.

Meanwhile the state drugs control department will be headed by an IPS cadre official. The post of the drugs controller has been lying vacant from March 27, 2003 after a crack down in the department by the Lok Ayukta. The former drugs controller, R Anand Rajashekar, who is currently on leave following the drugs scam has opted for voluntary retirement. However, the application has been kept in abeyance until the investigation into the scam is completed.