Health check for pharma sector? Govt planning 2-day meeting of regulators, policymakers

As India battles allegations of substandard pharmaceutical products sent to the Gambia, Uzbekistan, and the United States, the Narendra Modi government is planning to organise a two-day meeting of top drug regulatory and policy officials, News18 has learnt.

The ministry of health and family welfare has decided to bring all drug regulators and top government officials together on a common platform to discuss important issues pertaining to the latest developments in the drug industry.

Industry officials say this will be the first time that a meeting of this scale has been planned, which will be headed by union minister of health Mansukh Mandaviya.

According to the office memorandum seen by News18, the objective of the meeting called “Chintan Shivir”, planned for the last week of February, is to build trust and confidence in the quality of drugs in the domestic and global markets.

As per the agenda, the drug regulators and top government officials will also review predictability, transparency, and accountability in the regulation of the quality of drugs.

The officials will also discuss the introduction of digital tools for uniform and effective regulation apart from deliberating on compliance with Indian pharmacopoeia and standards, and developing robust networks for pharmacovigilance and materiovigilance programmes.

“…And to assess regulatory capacity across the states and centre along with to promote ease of doing business; this ministry has decided to organize a ‘Chintan Shivir’ under the chairmanship of Hon’ble Union Minister for Health & Family Welfare…” the office memorandum said.

Apart from Mandaviya, the event will be attended by the member (health) NITI Aayog and secretaries of the health ministry, department of pharmaceuticals, and ministry of AYUSH. Officials from the National Health Authority (NHA), Directorate General of Health Services (DGHS), and National Pharmaceutical Pricing Authority (NPPA) will also be present.

Since October 2022, India has been facing allegations of deaths of children in Uzbekistan and the Gambia caused by syrups manufactured by two Indian pharmaceutical firms. Recently, India-made eye drops were blamed for causing blindness and one death in the United States. All such incidents, according to the commerce ministry’s wing executing pharma exports, have been labelled as a “big blow” to India’s reputation as a “pharmacy to the world” and may end up impacting the trust of global regulators.

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