12,592 unlicensed pharmacies in the country: Health minister
As of August 2021, there were 12,592 unlicensed pharmacies in the country, said Health and Family Welfare Minister Zahid Maleque.
The process of identifying unlicensed stores and issuing licenses to those stores is ongoing, the minister told the Parliament today.
He was responding to a written question by MP Nurunnabi Chowdhury (Bhola-3) in the Jatiya Sangsad session chaired by Speaker Dr Shirin Sharmin Chaudhury.
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The health minister further said that field officers of 55 districts and eight divisional offices under the Directorate General of Drug Administration regularly visit pharmacies across the country.
If unlicensed shops are identified, they are given show cause notices.
The owner of the unlicensed shop then has the opportunity to obtain a license by fulfilling certain criteria.
Legal action is being taken against the owners of unlicensed drug stores. They are fined and punished in different terms through mobile courts, added Minister Maleque.
Cases are also filed in the Magistrate's Court if needed, he concluded.
