DRAP launches app to help consumers verify medicines, check prices

ISLAMABAD: The Drug Regulatory Authority of Pakistan (DRAP) has introduced a mobile application to help consumers verify medicines, identify counterfeit products and check government-approved prices through barcode scanning.

The authority has urged citizens to use its ‘Mehfooz Dawa’ application, which employs two-dimensional (2D) barcode technology to display a medicine’s registration details and official price when its packaging barcode is scanned using a smartphone.

Around 800 pharmaceutical companies and more than 90,000 medicines are registered with DRAP across the country, Ministry of Health spokesperson Sajid Shah said in a statement.

The application is part of broader efforts to digitise the pharmaceutical sector and strengthen regulatory oversight, particularly by improving transparency and enabling consumers to verify the authenticity and prices of medicines.

Track and trace system

Separately, a centralised track and trace system to monitor the supply and distribution of medicines across the country became operational on October 9, 2026.
The system enables authorities to track pharmaceutical products from manufacturing to market distribution, allowing regulators to identify specific batches and initiate recalls if complaints emerge about their quality or safety.
The federal cabinet had approved the nationwide implementation of the system in June, alongside amendments to the Drug Labelling and Packing Rules, 1978, to facilitate the digital tracking and verification of pharmaceutical products.
Under the approved framework, pharmaceutical manufacturers and importers are required to place standardised 2D barcodes and serialisation data on medicine packaging, enabling regulators to monitor products throughout the supply chain.
Over 86,000 medicines registered under system
Earlier this month, Federal Health Minister Mustafa Kamal said DRAP had been made fully transparent and digitalised, adding that more than 86,000 medicines manufactured by the pharmaceutical industry had been registered under the track and trace system.
Speaking during a visit to the Korangi Association of Trade and Industry (KATI) in Karachi, he urged pharmaceutical companies to register their medicines and products through an online platform.