Appraisal of multifarious brands of Cephradine for their in vitro antibacterial activity against varied microorganisms

The astounding and exceptional growth of generic pharmaceutical Industry in Pakistan has raised certain questions for drug regulatory authorities contemplating their efficacy and quality. The current study focuses on assessing the in-vitro antimicrobial activity of 24 brands of Cephradine 500mg capsules against 4 different strains by employing standardized methods. Disk diffusion method was performed on all brands to look into the susceptibility and resistance patterns. Standard disk of 5 micro g Cephradine powder were used during evaluation. The zones of inhibitions were ranged from 24-40mm against S. aureus, 24-40mm against E. coli, 20-25mm against K. pneumonia and 19-23mm P. mirabilis. On the basis of mean value, the multinational brands were found to have better zone of inhibitions and were better than local Pharmaceutical companies but ANOVA cooperative study showed that all brands of Cephradine showed similar comparable results. Further investigations by employing MIC method, quality of raw material with special emphasis on the shelf-life, excepients and method of manufacturing will be needed to obtain more authenticated results. The price of National and Multinational brands ranges from Rs.156.00-212.00 for 10 capsules. It is concluded that Public health is at risk because of noticeable growing widespread curse of the manufacture and trade of sub-standard or below par pharmaceuticals. The pecuniary accountability of management of pharmaceutical agents is additionally apparent. The results of the study need to be made public to boost the confidence of medical profession about the quality of locally manufactured pharmaceuticals. It will succor the foreign exchange being incurred on the trade in of medicines

south Asiatic monsoon and flood hazards in the Indus river basin, Pakistan

Flood is the most common of all environmental hazards. Each year floods claim over 20,000 lives adversely affect around 75 million people. The reason lies because of the widespread geographical distribution of rivers basins from mountainous terrain to flood plains, the low lying coasts and deltas. Pakistan is also a country which faces flood hazard periodically. The Indus river basin is the main flood prone area which occupies two-third area of Pakistan. The recent flood which occurred between 29 [th] July and 26 [th] August 2010 was the worst flood in the history of Pakistan. It affected four provinces, the Khyber Pakhtoon Khwa [NWF], Punjab, Balochistan and Sindh. Out of 143 districts, 67 districts of Pakistan were severely affected. It is estimated that about 20 million people were directly affected, killed 3000, destroyed 1 million houses, displaced 10 millions, and millions were affected water-borne diseases, lack of food, drinking water and shelter. It is estimated that about 130 million hectare of croplands had been inundated. The present study is an attempt to present a historical analysis of the relationship of south Asiatic monsoon and occurrence of severe floods in the Indus River basin. The study examines the nature of south Asiatic monsoon which caused catastrophic flood of 2010 in the Indus River basin and also probe out anthropogenic causes of flood hazard and problems of flood water and flood pain management