Will contribute to 'Clean India' campign, say DCGI GN Singh

The Drug Controller General of India (DCGI) plans to contribute to Prime Minister Narendra Modi's "Swachh Bharat, Swasth Bharat" (Clean India, healthy India) campaign.

"We will now renew our focus on the drug supply chain and on storage of medicines so that they are in line with the prescribed regulations, " says GN Singh, the Drug Controller General of India.

On October 20, a meeting of all the drug controllers from across the country has been called in Delhi where several issues before the drug industry today would be discussed. But the focus would be on looking closely at the issue of drug supply chain and drug storage.
 
Corporates however are happy that this is a focus area now for the regulator.  "When you talk of storage of medicines then you have to look at the complete cycle from packaging to handling of drugs right upto their consumption by the patients as the whole sustainability issue also comes in," says Hasit Joshipura, Senior Vice President for South Asia and Managing Director of GlaxoSmithKline (GSK) Pharmaceuticals, the Indian arm of UK-based GSK Plc.

He feels that since India is also an exporter of drugs the leading drug companies on their part would be looking at these issues and adhering to international standards.

Others are however sceptical. "In a country where there is no proper cold chain even for food, how can we even talk of proper storage mechanisms for medicines," says a senior executive in a pharma company on condition of anonymity. "If the regulator wants to focus on it then, it will involve more inspections and random checks, but then, do they have adequate manpower to ensure this? I do not think so," he adds.