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| Sunday, 12 June 2005 |
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Features |  |
| News Business Features Editorial
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Consumer Ombudsman by National Consumer Watch How pure is bottled water? Recent comments in the Media, particularly in the Newspapers are of great relevance to Consumers generally, and the Consumer Watch considers if necessary to focus public attention to them as they impinge on public health and the wastage of resources. In this connection we refer to problems relating to bottled water, drugs and the environment. Bottled water in plastic bottles is now freely available in many shops and super markets, while larger bottles are seen being delivered to homes by van. How pure is this water? In appearance the water looks crystal clear and hardly any one would bother to boil this water unlike the water on the tap. There are also attractive labels suggesting that water comes from unpolluted springs and streams and are in addition processed by chemical and other means. The lids are often covered with a label to prevent tampering with the contents. However a closer examination of some of these bottles would show that there is no verification of the claims made by the producers by a Standards Institution. The result is that in the absence of such authentic verification, the claims can be spurious and people, particularly children can drink this water and thereby expose themselves to serious health hazards. Consumer Watch therefore cautions consumers to check the labels and ensure that the certification of the Institute of Standards appears on the bottle before drinking such water. So too there could be many items of food in the markets the quality of which is open to serious doubt. Sometime back one is aware of much talk of papaw seeds being mixed with pepper. So too sand being found in rice. Cat meat being served in eating houses as a delicacy by another name! A species of rats is being sold as kebabs in a foreign country. The only limitation appears to be the ingenuity of man as anything well presented looks palatable. Take the question of drugs. Even after half a century or more after independence, it is sad to note that yet we have no policy on drugs. A recent Editorial comment bemoaned the absence of a policy on the importation of drugs. As a result many thousands of drugs by brand name are imported costing the exchequers over Rupees five billion. In this connection the public is aware of the invaluable contribution made by the legendary Professor Senaka Bibile who had recommended the importation of only two hundred to three hundred essential or critical drugs which proposal was accepted by even the World Health Organization which recommended this policy for implementation world wide. It is said that some one hundred & fifty countries follow this policy today with no complaints on the health of their citizens, but not in Sri Lanka, where the prophet has gone unhonoured in his own country. It has been said that pharmaceutical giants had even threatened Sri Lanka with dire consequences. Today we import some 8000 varieties of drugs! to quote from an Editorial ? Thousand of these drugs are non-essential, and unnecessary and very expensive and some of them counter productive if not dangerous ? As a result there is little by way of quality control with suspicions of even flour inside! Just imagine if a saner drug policy is implemented, how much less it would cost the consumer and how much could be spent even out of the Rs. 5 billion on improvements to infra structure facilities in hospitals for the public benefit. We are gratified however that once again a comprehensive national drug policy is being formulated and that legislation is being formulated to follow it. If only the Medical practitioners pay heed to the Bibile Policy and the recommendations of the WHO and prescribe drugs on the basis of their generic names and not these highly publicized Brand Names, what a boon it would be to the public. This column is aware of instances where a particular drug that was prescribed to cost as much as Rupees Three Thousand per phial, because it was said to be in short supply. A number of people were seen queuing up for this particular brand of medicine, and yet within a few weeks another drug barely one third of the price of the original drug which was freely available was prescribed. What then was the reason for the more expensive drug? This Legislation should be introduced as soon as possible to relieve the suffering public who are already facing the impact of inflation which is now said to be 12 %. A concerted effort should be made to keep the public informed that drugs are available by their generic name, which after all is the scientific or chemical name for the active ingredients in the drug, while the brand name is only a Trade Name for commercial purposes. One looks forward to meaningful steps taken by the Ministry of Health no less than by the Doctors themselves towards the realization of a sensible policy on the importation and prescription of drugs and its effective implementation for the benefit of the public. We are happy to note that there is an organization known as the Peoples Movement for the Rights of the Patient which is exerting pressure on the authorities and that the Consumer Affairs Authority is ready to implement the price of drug if the Ministry of Health Gazettes a list of essential drugs with their prices. All this is good news. We the consumers and other organizations must continue to be awake and continue to exert pressure and success will surely come to all our citizens. After all if a country like the UK is keeping Health Service under strict State Control and out of the reach of market forces there is every reason for us to follow suit and evolve and effectively implement a Rational Drug Policy. What has been lacking so far is the will to do this. If it is done it will be a boon to all citizens, who will have their medicine of good quality at very reasonable prices imported by their generic names not by their brand names, for which we pay through our nose. Wastage is another matter that we as consumers should be conscious of and make every endeavour to curtail if not eliminate Consumer Watch will deal with this in a future column. Please write to us and tell us your problem. We are at No. 143 A, Vajira Road, Colombo 5.
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