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Govt must issue new measures to expand BPOM’s authority, lawmaker says
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BPOM and police personnel display illegal drugs that had been confiscated during a press conference at police headquarter in Jakarta on Sept. 6. (JP/Seto Wardhana.)
T
he government must issue a presidential regulation to expand the authority of the Food and Drug Monitoring Agency (BPOM) to include monitoring and launching raids on private medical facilities, a lawmaker has argued.
The notion was made following recent police findings of an expired medicine trade at Pramuka market in East Jakarta. The market is known for providing cheap medicine and affordable medical equipment.
Chairman of the House of Representatives’ Commission IX overseeing health and labor affairs, Dede Yusuf, says current ministerial decrees no. 34, 35 and 36, only allows the agency to monitor and conduct sample testing on state-run hospitals, clinics and pharmacies.
“The authority only applies to state medical facilities and not to private ones. Therefore, this [proposed] presidential regulation could serve as a legal umbrella for the agency to monitor private medical facilities,” Dede said on Saturday in Jakarta.
He added that the House would propose and deliberate a bill specifically on food and drug monitoring, stipulating the BPOM's authorities not only to prevent the spread of fake medicine, but also to independently investigate and prosecute perpetrators.
As a consequence, however, the government would have to allocate more funding to the agency if the bill was passed, Dede said. (wnd/ags)
