The government has assigned only two medical inspectors to monitor thousands of medical stores in 24 districts of far-western Nepal, reports Kantipur Daily Tuesday.

The report questioned the ability of these inspectors to regularly monitor more than three thousand registered medical stores in 24 districts of the far west including thousands of illegal ones operating discreetly when they have admitted that they are unable to regularly monitor some 536 medical stores in Nepalgunj of Banke district where they are based.

“Let alone regular inspection, we can’t even reach all the districts,” Pushpa Rana Chettri, the acting chief at the Nepalgunj office of Department of Medical Provisions, told Kantipur Daily. He said last year they could not reach 12 districts, and didn’t even set foot in Karnali zone.

Not only the medical stores registered at the department, these two inspectors are responsible for checking the quality of veterinary, Ayurvedic and homeopathic medicines.

According to the report, banned medicines are being openly sold in the local market in Nepalgunj but the department has largely been unable to stop it.

Medicines used in surgery including those that claim of increasing a person’s “sexual performance” are the ones mostly being sold in an illegal manner, according to the report.

But the District Administration Office (DAO) and Public Health Office have largely turned a blind eye to all this. nepalnews.com Dec 16 08