<div><span style="font-size: 1rem;">Health and Family Welfare Minister Zahid Maleque today said the government has approved Drug Act-2022 with a provision of ten years imprisonment and Taka 10 lakh fine aiming to check substandard medicine.</span><br></div><div><br></div><div>“The cabinet has in principle approved&nbsp; Drug Act-2022 with a provision of rigorous punishment and Taka 10 lakh fine for&nbsp; manufacturing, stockpiling and selling of fake medicine,” he said.</div><div><br></div><div>The minister said this while responding to a query made by opposition lawmaker&nbsp; Syed Abu Hossain Babla of Dhaka-4 at the question-answer session at the Jatiya Sangsad Bhaban herewith Jatiya Sangsad Speaker Dr Shirin Sharmin Chaudhury in the chair.</div><div><br></div><div>The drug administration with the help of law enforcing agencies usually administer regular drive against the manufacturers of counterfeit drugs.</div><div><br></div><div>The drug administration in association with the Directorate of Health Services have taken various actions&nbsp; during January 2021 to June 2022.</div><div><br></div><div>Under the initiatives,&nbsp; 3,136 cases filed through the mobile court, realized over Taka&nbsp; 3.66 crore as fines,104 cases filed in the magistrate courts,25 cases filed in drug courts and licenses have been cancelled of 53 fake drug manufacturers.</div><div><br></div><div>Meanwhile , the government has already conducted a country-wide drive against substandard private hospitals and shut down a total of 1700 private hospitals and diagnostic centers.</div><div><br></div><div>The government will conduct the drive regularly to bring discipline in the health sector, the minister told the parliament while responding to another supplementary query. Source: BSS</div><div><br></div><div>bnbd24/fas</div>