Telangana: Union Health Minister Mansukh Mandaviya attends inaugural session of ‘Chintan Shivir’ on drugs’ quality regulation, enforcement

Rangareddy (Telangana) [India], February 26 (ANI): Union Minister for Health & Family Welfare Dr Mansukh Mandaviya today participated in the inaugural session of the two-day “Chintan Shivir” on “Drugs: Quality regulation and Enforcement” here.

The health ministry’s two-day meet on 26th and 27th of February at Kanha Shanti Vanam is being organised with the aim to build trust and confidence in the quality of drugs, cosmetics and medical devices in domestic and export markets.

Addressing the inaugural session, Union Minister Mandaviya said, “The Ministry and Drugs Controller office has been consistently coordinating this meeting. The Government of India has taken a new practice to call for a 2-day meet, conduct discussion and bring out an output. This is the 6th edition of this practice since I started it”.

Talking about his strategies and plans for the quality regulation of medicines, Mandaviya said, “We first decide in the ministry what has to be done and what requires more attention. So, when the government decides this, it is very important to make a strategy and action plan for it. If not, as a minister I will have certain thoughts, and the person who is implementing it will have some other thoughts, all this will make it difficult to give a good output. I have seen many such incidents where an holistic approach is not made to the policy or initiative by the government thus resulting in a totally different output unlike what was intended”.

“Just like in the Pharma sector, the Pharma sector and Pharma regulatory system might be in different ministries but their work are same and their approach should be one. This time the Pharma Minister and Health Minister are the same. So, why not make our regulatory system the best? If we consider from the point of view of the regulatory system, then the pharma sector is divided into three parts. One that works under the state, the second that works under the Health Ministry, and the third that works under Pharma Ministry. There are these many stakeholders”, he added.

Mandaviya highlighted the challenge of fake medicines available in the market. He said that it’s the responsibility of both pharma industries and people together to brainstorm on it.

“Today as there is no synergy in the work divided, many fake medicines are coming onto the market. These fake medicines are sometimes even exported which leads to questions being raised about our pharma industry in international markets. I agree that there is a responsibility of the pharma industries in it but first, we have a responsibility for it. Our responsibility is in the form of a challenge. All these issues arise because of a lack of synergy in the work. So let’s together brainstorm on it”.

“The Government of India alone or the state government alone cannot bring a solution for this. All stakeholders including the state Government, Health Ministry and Pharma Ministry should think about this. Today, we all, all 3 stakeholders are here. We have to discuss all these for 2 days in five sessions. Brainstorming has been done for 3 months before this meeting for the topics and issues to be discussed here. As a minister, I have personally seen the presentation and it includes everyone’s input”, the Minister added.

Minister of State for Health & Family Welfare Dr Bharati Pravin Pawar, Minister of State for Chemicals & Fertilizers Dr Bhagwant Khuba and NITI Aayog Member Dr V K Paul were also present in the meeting.

Participants will also discuss global best practices, the introduction of newer interventions like digital tools, and clinical trial standards, and in-turn give an impetus towards creating a multi-stakeholder approach for benefit of common citizens, the release said.

The conference will have panel discussions with eminent speakers and experts from Ministry of Health and Family Welfare, NITI Aayog, industry fora, startups, academia, etc., along with interactive sessions with the stakeholders.

As part of the Chintan Shivir, five sessions have been planned on these aspects: 1) Building trust and confidence on the quality of drugs, cosmetics, and medical devices in domestic and export markets, 2) Effective enforcement at the field level, 3) Indian pharmacopeia and adherence to its standards, 4) A unified IT intervention for all regulatory activities and 5) Capacity building of state and national regulators, it said.

The sessions aim at creating brainstorming interaction with stakeholders, with a view to evolve a participative approach for time-bound implementation of policies and programmes, it said. (ANI)