Ravi Kumudesh, President of the Association of Health Professionals, says that not only the Pharmaceutical Corporation, the Drugs Regulatory Authority, the Medical Supplies Division but also the laboratory services are all out of the control of the Cabinet Minister of Health.
He alleges that it is very rare in history for officials of the Ministry of Health to clash with their Cabinet Minister in public and that the reason for this situation, which is now very common, is that the Ministry of State has concentrated power over the Cabinet Ministries.
He also points out that the constitutional minister appointed by the people of the country has become a puppet in a situation where key officials such as the health secretary go beyond the cabinet minister and issue orders. He also recalls that the former Minister of Health, who was a victim of this conflict, was removed from office as a convict.
Ravi Kumudesh also said that the current Minister of Health, in the face of this conflict, was threatening to resign and bargaining power was the real situation in the resignation report of the top officials of the Pharmaceutical Corporation.
“One of the chapters in this conflict is that the Committee of Experts appointed by the Minister of State to look into the disappearance of data on Drug Fraud and Drug Regulatory Authority has set aside the investigation into drug fraud and proposed in its first recommendations that the Minister of State be given Cabinet powers. It is clear that the group is trying to get a presidential order to “work freely” and that their freedom is to make decisions beyond the control of the cabinet minister and to enjoy unrestricted freedom.” he said.
However, he called on the President to reconsider whether the real purpose of establishing a separate State Ministry of Drugs has been achieved. He added that although some officials were trying to take advantage of the publicity that the vaccine was being imported efficiently, special management skills were not required to import the Chinese vaccine, which has the lowest demand in the world, at the highest price.