PAAM opposes DRAP’s proposed alternative medicine rules 2026

LAHORE: A covert gambit by the Drug Regulatory Authority of Pakistan (DRAP) to impose arbitrary regulations on the alternative medicine sector has been laid bare, sparking widespread outrage across the pharmaceutical industry.

​The regulatory body is accused of using an upcoming ‘Pak Health Expo’, organized by an association at a local hotel in Islamabad on August 12–13, as a smokescreen to push through controversial policies.

Reliable sources revealed that the final draft of the highly contentious “Alternative Medicines Rules 2026” has already been finalized behind closed doors, completely bypassing key industry stakeholders. According to these sources, the draft has already been forwarded to the Law and Justice Division for formal vetting.

Against this backdrop, the industry has termed DRAP’s sudden announcement of a “consultative session” at the expo issued on a mere 48-hour notice as a farcical exercise in paperwork, designed solely to create a false record of stakeholder consensus.

Insiders further alleged that top DRAP officials had been cold-calling homeopathic and Unani pharmaceutical firms over the past several days, pressuring them to purchase expensive stalls worth hundreds of thousands of rupees at the private event. Following a widespread boycott of the expo by established manufacturers, DRAP reportedly engineered the controversial regulatory session within the event to corner the industry into participation.

Reacting strongly to the development, Kashif Aslam Malik, Chairman of the Pakistan Association of Alternative Medicine (PAAM), categorically rejected DRAP’s maneuvers, stating that the leadership had anticipated the bureaucratic trap.

​”When the final draft has already been sent to the Law and Justice Division for vetting, this sudden drama of a consultative session at a private venue is nothing but an absolute mockery,” Malik questioned while speaking to journalists.

The PAAM chairman emphasized that leaning on private event platforms to legitimize sensitive, sector-defining legislation is clear evidence of regulatory bad faith. He maintained that if DRAP were genuinely sincere about consultation, it would have convened an official, independent roundtable with all veteran associations where the actual draft could be scrutinized transparently.

The PAAM leadership has announced that any back-door attempt to benefit a favored private group or to bulldoze industry-hostile clauses under the guise of an expo crowd will be resisted tooth and nail.

Kashif Aslam ​Malik reiterated that this persistent bureaucratic high-handedness and regulatory blackmail are precisely why PAAM continues to spearhead the movement for a dedicated, independent federal ministry for alternative medicine. The association demands that policies governing traditional and alternative health sciences be framed by domain experts who understand the discipline, rather than traditional regulators.