New Delhi: Aiming to tighten the nationwide oversight of drug quality, the Drugs Consultative Committee (DCC) has urged the Centre to address the growing non-uniformity in state-level implementation of medicine standards.

After detailed deliberations, the Committee stressed the need for nationwide uniformity and advised sending directives to all States to take proactive corrective steps, including improving infrastructure and manpower as outlined in the State Health Regulatory Excellence Index (SHRESTH) regulatory index.

In the 67th meeting held on November 17, the DCC was apprised that concerns have been raised regarding “effective enforcement of medicine standards nationwide uniformly,” wherein the following issues have been raised:

1. Some states are lagging behind in the uniform implementation of prescribed drug standards, testing facilities of laboratories, skilled development of staff and creation of a centralized agency for effective enforcement of drug standards at the national level.

2. Low conviction rate due to reasons like insufficient investigations, delay in testing results and ineffective prosecution services.

3. To implement rigorous scrutiny of adulteration in imported pharmaceutical products.

DCC deliberated the matter in detail and stressed the need for uniform implementation of standards nationwide.

DCC also recommended,

“A letter be written to all States to take proactive steps to address these issues. It was further suggested that Government may write a letter to the State Governments for providing the necessary infrastructure, including the adequate manpower, as highlighted under State Health Regulatory Excellence Index (SHRESTH).”