Committee to prepare national drug database

Solan, November 10

The Ministry of Health and Family Welfare has constituted a seven-member committee to prepare a national drugs database to strengthen the monitoring mechanism for quality drugs and create a uniform regulatory mechanism.

State gets representation

• Himachal has been given representation in the committee as it houses the pharmaceutical hub of Asia
• It has around 650 manufacturing units with an investment of about Rs 8,000 crore and contributes 7 to 9% to the country’s exports

State Drugs Controller Navneet Marwaha is enlisted as a member of the committee, which was notified by the Drugs Controller General of India on October 2.

Marwaha said the committee would prepare a database on drugs that would include information such as their dosage form, strength, details of manufacturer, marketer, importer, etc. Himachal has been given representation in the committee as it houses the pharmaceutical hub of Asia in the Baddi-Barotiwala-Nalagarh (BBN) industrial belt with every third drug in the domestic market being manufactured in the BBN region.

The state has around 650 manufacturing units with an investment of about Rs 8,000 crore. It contributes 7 to 9% in the nation’s exports and 45 per cent to the exports of the northern region. The existing database available with various states and drug control departments, manufacturers, marketers, importers will also be examined by the committee, which is supposed to submit its report within three months.