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India must have a robust drug regulation framework to maintain the title ‘pharmacy of the world’, said Union Health Minister, JP Nadda on Wednesday. 

The Union Health Minister said this at a high-level review meeting on regulation of drugs, cosmetics, and medical devices, in the national Capital on Wednesday.

“For India to become the global leader in drug regulation to match our global reputation of ‘Pharmacy of the World’, we need to have a world-class regulatory framework matching our scale of operations and international expectations,” Nadda said.

This comes as contaminations were detected in several India-made drugs recently by the US Food and Drug Administration and European Medicines Agency, among others.

Highlighting the global position of India as the leading producer and exporter of drugs, Nadda urged the Central Drugs Standard Control Organisation (CDSCO) to draw a road map with timelines for achieving global standards in its mandated activities.

The minister stated that the upscaling “needs to be systems-based focussing on highest standards of uniformity, technical upgradation, and futuristic approach”.

For the export of drugs and pharmaceuticals, the system should be designed for proper intervention to maintain the quality of drugs being exported, he emphasised.

He also underscored the importance of transparency in the working of CDSCO.

“In order to achieve global standards, our focus needs to be on transparency of procedures at CDSCO and within the drugs and medical devices industry,” Nadda said.

“Our focus should be on developing mechanisms that ensure ease of doing business for the drugs industry within the regulatory requirements. For this, CDSCO needs to be a user-friendly organisation with state-of-the-art facilities matching global standards,” he stated.