Drug industry
Our pharmaceutical sector is one of the developed and hi-tech sectors, which is contributing to our national economy. After the promulgation of The Drug Control Ordinance 1982, the development of this sector was accelerated. At present there are 222 licensed pharmaceutical companies; but now 164 of them are in operation in Bangladesh. Now Bangladesh is exporting medicines to more than 180 countries around the world. In the last fiscal year, the export of medicines was worth around BDT 300 crores.
The deaths of 25 children after taking paracetamol syrup point to the utter disregard by the Drug Administration for public health. Once again The Rid company scandal in Bangladesh has revealed the total lack of quality control mechanism of the Drug Administration for essential drugs. There is a rule that the drug superintendents and drug inspectors are supposed to visit the market from time to time and collect samples randomly for testing in the laboratory. But they did not do so, resulting in such deaths. Moreover, there are only 24 drug superintendents and inspectors at field level to collect samples. Besides there is shortage of drug testing laboratories in the country.
The main reason for this scandal is undue profiteering through using low cost but poisonous ingredients for making paracetamol suspension. It is worrying to learn that a harmful element has also been found in vitamin capsule and syrup. So, now people will generally get worried to take medicines even with leading brands. It will ultimately reduce demand for medicine products at home and abroad which will result in sluggishness in the pharmaceutical sector. It also proves that our business ethics and morality are gradually falling only for monetary gains. For this reason the business persons are now paying more attention on profit maximization through whatever means available to them whether it is ethical or not. Though business ethics and morality are being taught in the leading business schools at home and abroad to the business students, but they often forget it when they become businessmen because of facing the reality that influences them to be unethical and corrupt. One of my course teachers once defined business “as a process of getting out money from the customers' pockets at any cost.” Although it does not sound good, but now it's the reality that most businesspersons follow.
Finally, I don't want to see deaths of innocent children any more through intake of poisonous medicines produced by a section of unethical businessmen. So, I appeal to the government to probe this scandal because it is the most sensitive sector relating to the life and death of a human being. Otherwise, our medicine exports to foreign countries would be badly hit.
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