Dr Alamdar Hussain Malik
Pakistan’s livestock sector—home to more than 220 million animals—is the backbone of rural livelihoods, national food security, and the country’s economic stability. Despite its enormous size and contribution, the regulatory framework governing veterinary pharmaceuticals remains fragmented, outdated, and insufficiently specialized. While the Drug Regulatory Authority of Pakistan (DRAP) is responsible for overseeing both human and veterinary drugs, its operational focus, structure, and expertise are overwhelmingly oriented toward human medicine. This structural imbalance has resulted in weak oversight of veterinary pharmaceuticals, inconsistent quality control, slow and non-specialized drug registration processes, and insufficient monitoring of market practices. The absence of dedicated veterinary drug experts within DRAP, despite the vast livestock population and persistent disease challenges, highlights a fundamental regulatory gap that demands immediate attention.
According to the Ministry of Health’s 2022 records, Pakistan has over 65,000 human and veterinary drugs registered with DRAP in total. However, DRAP’s own 2010 data specific to veterinary medicine shows that only 6,070 veterinary drugs were registered—3,542 locally manufactured and 2,578 imported. Even more concerning is that for more than a decade, the country has lacked updated, verified, and transparent data about the current status, quality, and sufficiency of veterinary drugs. This long-standing absence of clear oversight demonstrates that the veterinary pharmaceutical domain has not been properly managed, and the regulatory structure has failed to keep pace with emerging challenges such as antimicrobial resistance (AMR), adulterated drugs, under-dosing, overuse of antibiotics in food animals, and increasing disease burdens.
Pakistan’s livestock sector continues to face recurring outbreaks of Foot and Mouth Disease (FMD), Lumpy Skin Disease (LSD), Hemorrhagic Septicemia (HS), avian influenza, parasitic infestations, and reproductive disorders—yet the country still lacks a specialized regulatory authority with the mandate, expertise, and autonomy to evaluate, register, monitor, and ensure the quality of veterinary pharmaceuticals. Without such an institution, the control of zoonotic diseases and the advancement of the One Health vision—integrating human, animal, and environmental health—cannot be realized. A dedicated veterinary drug authority would not only improve disease management and ensure drug safety but also contribute directly to controlling AMR, safeguarding the national food chain, and protecting public health.
Another undeniable reality is that DRAP’s institutional orientation, priorities, and operational mechanisms are heavily inclined toward human pharmaceuticals, leaving veterinary medicine as a peripheral concern. This imbalance results in prolonged delays in veterinary drug registration, limited technical scrutiny, inadequate post-market surveillance, and little attention to field realities faced by farmers and veterinarians. When a regulatory system is dominated by human-sector priorities, veterinary needs are systematically sidelined—causing direct harm to livestock productivity, rural incomes, and the nation’s food supply chain.
To overcome these structural deficiencies, Pakistan needs to establish an Independent Veterinary Drug Registration Authority with the autonomy, mandate, and expertise essential to manage an increasingly complex veterinary pharmaceutical landscape. This authority must consist of representation from all key stakeholders, including provincial Livestock Departments, Veterinary Drug Associations, Pakistan Veterinary Medical Association (PVMA), Pakistan Veterinary Medical Council (PVMC), experts from universities, and the private sector. PVMA’s historic role—being instrumental in the establishment of the Pakistan Veterinary Medical Council in 1996—underscores the importance of veterinarian-led institutional development in Pakistan. PVMA represents veterinarians across the country and remains a crucial voice for safeguarding professional standards and animal health. Similarly, PVMC must be empowered to play an active oversight role to ensure drug quality, professional ethics, and safe usage across veterinary practice.
An independent authority is also essential for ensuring quality enhancement of all drugs produced for veterinary use, from manufacturing to field availability. Pakistan faces a significant challenge of substandard, adulterated, and improperly formulated veterinary pharmaceuticals circulating in the market. Without a dedicated regulatory framework, farmers are left vulnerable, livestock productivity declines, and the risk of drug resistance intensifies. A specialized authority would set uniform quality standards, enforce compliance, strengthen laboratory testing, monitor supply chains, and assure that only safe, effective, and scientifically approved products enter the livestock sector.
Given the enormous size of Pakistan’s livestock population and its importance to the national economy, the establishment of an Independent Veterinary Drug Registration Authority is not merely an administrative requirement—it is a strategic, economic, and public health imperative. The authority will ensure transparency, quality assurance, prudent antibiotic use, disease control, and the successful implementation of the One Health framework. It will also align Pakistan with global best practices, where veterinary drug regulation is treated as a focused discipline essential to both animal and human health.
In conclusion, Pakistan can no longer afford regulatory delays, fragmented oversight, or insufficient technical expertise in managing veterinary pharmaceuticals. The establishment of a fully autonomous, specialized Veterinary Drug Registration Authority is urgently required to protect animal health, safeguard public health, enhance livestock productivity, prevent AMR, ensure drug quality, empower veterinarians, and secure the future of a sector that feeds and sustains millions of Pakistanis.
