Kurdistan Region enacts new quality control measures for medication

ERBIL, November 9 — The Kurdistan Regional Government (KRG) has announced the introduction of barcodes and new labels on all pharmaceuticals, displaying crucial information in Kurdish, Arabic, and English. Information can be easily accessed by scanning the barcodes with mobile phone cameras.

The region’s Quality Control Directorate has also established a hotline for patients to report any side effects after using medication, with fines up to 10 million dinars imposed on violators.

A statement from the KRG, translated by 964, said:

The government of the Kurdistan Region has affixed quality and price test marks to most pharmaceuticals in local pharmacies, aiming to facilitate identification of counterfeit drugs and regulate illegal prices.

Continuing the reforms in the health sector under the Ninth Cabinet, new labels are being placed on all medicines sold in pharmacies to prevent the smuggling of counterfeit drugs and to control prices.

The label has been applied to over 14,000 medications, enabling citizens to verify the importer, quality, and price through their mobile phones, displaying information in Kurdish, Arabic, and English. The Drug Quality Control Directorate has also established a hotline for patients to report any side effects, which they will diligently follow up on.

Dr. Shirwan Sadiq, Director of Drug Quality Control, stated that fortunately, all medications can be distributed on time with the new labels. Companies were warned that their licenses would expire from the new year onwards, and the sale of any medication in Kurdistan without these labels is strictly prohibited.

Any company, warehouse, or pharmacy not complying with the new medication labels will face fines ranging from two million to ten million dinars. By the new year, 390 drug importers, 147 warehouses, and 1782 pharmacies must adhere to this decision.