Drug testing lab cries for more amenities

KOCHI: Though the con-sumption of medicines are on the rise, the only drug testing lab in the state started 50 years ago is limping for want of proper faci­lities.The drug testing lab in Thiruvananthapuram is inept in testing the new generation medici­nes, instruments and biological products available in the market. Giving crede­nce to the fact,  Chief Governmental Analyst KC Molykutty con­firmed that the laboratory in the capi­tal lacks surgical suitcases and the facili­ties to test the potency of the vaccines. “But the other states in India also do not have these facilities.” she said.Sources with the drug testing laboratory said that such explanations from the higher au­thority could not be accepted as the con­sumption of new ge­neration medicines and products is surging beyond limit in the state. “Today we are mostly using new generation medicines   and   bio-technological pro­ducts. Certain kinds of bacteria are used in the manufacture of bio-technological pro­ducts. These are human-friendly pro­ducts. We do not have any facilities to deal with such medicines,” they said.When the need for testing such medicines arises, the only option left for the lab au­thorities is to send them to Noida, Ghazi-abad or Hyderabad. But that too is not free of flaws.“The government usu­ally does not provide the provisions to send the samples of such medicines by flight and the result is that it would take three or four days to reach the destination. By the time the samples would have de­teriorated,” a top off­icial of the lab said. Compared to other sta­tes, the consumption of medicines in Kerala is surging. With 2,500 medical shops in Kochi itself, the state is struggling for a pro­per mechanism to test the quality of medici­nes which appear in the market. “With  these  limited facilities, the drug testing laboratory is now testing only the samples of paraceta­ mol and crocine,” the sources said.Though the previous government    had sanctioned `5  crore to set up another lab in Kakkanad, Kochi. it would also not resolve the issue, said Ravi S Menon. Assistant Drugs Officer, Kakka­nad. “The money is enough to build only the stru­cture. But to provide more facilities to the lab, it need more fun­ ds.” he said. He also said it was the right time to intimate the government on the dearth of facilities as this year’s Budget is round the corner. If the government does not allocate fund this year too. the new structure which was built spending `5 crore would also be yet another structure sans basic amenities. When contacted. Health Minister Adoor Prakash said they would look into the issue at the de­partment meetings on October 11.