US helps Pakistan to digitize records for DRAP

Islamabad: The United States Mission to Pakistan, in cooperation with the Government of Pakistan, presented a new records management system to digitize more than four million records for the Drug Regulatory Authority of Pakistan (DRAP).

The system, developed by the U.S. Agency for International Development’s (USAID) Global Health Supply Chain program, will create digital archives and barcode paper files, which are critical to accountable tracking of DRAP’s files. DRAP sought USAID’s support to digitize the records, and USAID provided training to the DRAP staff on records management best practices.

“This digitized system that USAID and the Government of Pakistan have created modernizes, streamlines, and harmonizes data archives, which directly supports data accessibility and visibility,” said USAID Deputy Mission Director Michael Nehrbass. “It will also ensure transparency of information and records management, which ultimately will help ensure access to quality-assured medicines and commodities in Pakistan.”

“It is a great achievement that 4.1 million DRAP records have been digitized with USAID support,” said Dr. Faisal Sultan, Pakistan’s Special Assistant to the Prime Minister on Health. “I thank USAID for helping the Government with the first-ever public sector digitization.”