Federal Minister for Health Mustafa Kamal says the Ministry of Health is committed to eradicate counterfeit medicines from the country.

Chairing a meeting in Islamabad today to review '2D Barcode' trials to eliminate counterfeit medicines, he said the Ministry of Health has been working on implementing 2D Barcodes on medicines for the past eighteen months. He said the Barcode is mandatory for all medicines.

The Minister for Health said local and multinational pharmaceutical companies are required to include 2D Barcodes and serial numbers on medicines manufactured. He said that imported medicines will not be permitted for sale anywhere in the country without a '2D Barcode'.

During the meeting, the CEO of Drug Regulatory Authority of Pakistan (DRAP) briefed the participants about implementation of '2D Barcodes' and serialization.

It was informed that the DRAP has already completed the relevant training for representatives of pharmaceutical companies and other stakeholdersin this connection.