JALALABAD (SW) – In Nangarhar’s capital, Jalalabad city, many people are still selling different types of medicine in non-standard and arbitrarily hand-carts on the road.
Sameer, who sells medicines in Jalalabad city, says that he only sells “tablets” for headache and some other diseases.
He told Salam Watandar: “When doctors were scarce, my father used to sell medicine, and now this business is left to us from my father. I don’t have too many strong medicines and I only sell common medicines for headache and cold pills.”
At the same time, a number of people who buy medicine from these medicine sellers say that they often go to street medicine sellers to buy medicines.
Nur Mohammad, a resident of Nangarhar, who owns a business in Jalalabad city, says that when he feels fever and headache, instead of going to the doctor or pharmacy, he buys medicine from people over the counter and uses it.
He said: “I do business here, often when I have a headache, I come to buy medicine from these people, either body pain pills or throat pain pills so I don’t take such strong medicine.”
On the other hand, the health officials of Nangarhar told Salam Watandar that arbitrary sale of medicine is prohibited in Jalalabad city. If the sellers are caught, they will be punished.
Head of the public health department’s monitoring team, Qudratullah Sahil told Salam Watandar that the whole city is under surveillance and will not allow anyone to sell medicine arbitrarily.
He said: “We definitely do not allow anyone to sell medicine arbitrarily. All these pharmacies are registered with us and they cannot operate without our permission.”
It is worth noting that the problem of arbitrarily selling medicines is seen not only in Nangarhar, but also in other provinces of the country posing grim threas to public health.
ENDS
