DRAP Mehfooz Dawa app: scan a medicine's 2D barcode to check if it is real and its price

The Drug Regulatory Authority of Pakistan (DRAP) wants you to check every medicine you buy on its Mehfooz Dawa app, which reads the 2D barcode on the pack and shows whether the product is genuine and what it should cost. A ministry of health spokesperson set out the system to Dawn on Monday, 9 November.

How the check works

• Medicines registered with DRAP now carry a 2D barcode with a serial number on the pack.
• You scan it with the Mehfooz Dawa app on a smartphone.
• The app shows the product's details and its price, so you can see whether the pack is genuine and whether you are being overcharged. When the system was announced in October, the health minister said users would also see the expiry date (24NewsHD).
• The same code lets DRAP follow a batch through the supply chain and recall it quickly when there is a complaint or a quality problem.

The numbers behind it

The idea is not new: Dawn notes it was first proposed in 2015 and approved by the federal cabinet in 2017, but stalled for years until Health Minister Mustafa Kamal pushed it through this year. In October he said imported medicines without a 2D barcode would not be allowed on sale, and that the system will be extended to veterinary and poultry medicines.

What to do at the pharmacy

1. Install the app from the official publisher. The app is called Mehfooz Dawa; before installing, check that the developer is the Drug Regulatory Authority of Pakistan and not a lookalike.
2. Scan before you pay, especially for antibiotics, vaccines, insulin and other medicines that have been faked before.
3. Compare the price the app shows with the price on the pack and what the shop is charging.
4. Expect older stock without a code. The rule covers medicines made from 10 October, so packs manufactured before that may still be on shelves without one. Missing code on an older pack is not proof of a fake, but a code that does not scan or shows a different product is a warning sign.
5. Report a problem to DRAP through its official website, dra.gov.pk, with the batch number, the shop and a photo of the pack.

DRAP has issued several fake-batch alerts this autumn, including for Augmentin, Velosef, Nasomet, No-Spa Forte and Mucaine and for fake flu vaccines, and the government has asked it to review its pricing formula. A scan takes seconds and is now the quickest way to catch both a fake pack and an inflated price.

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