India plans better drug testing as its pharma market grows

Early last month, a three-day meeting of Indian state Health Ministers was concluded in Hyderabad to draw up a time bound action plan for creation of new posts of regulatory staff and upgrading of drug testing laboratories throughout the country, according to an editorial in local drug news source Pharma.biz.

The meeting was presided over by the Union Minister for Health Gulab NabiAzad and was viewed as significant considering the fact that both at the center and in most of the states, there has been a huge shortfall of regulatory staff, especially the post of drug inspectors. The issue of shortage of regulatory staff has to be seen in the background of spectacular growth of Indian pharmaceutical industry over the last 30 years.

During the three decade period, says Pharma.biz, the number of pharmaceutical units and trading establishments expanded in many states including certain new states like Himachal, Utterakand and Jammu and Kashmir. And almost 40% to 50% of the country’s drug production has been shifted to these new states on account of the tax incentives offered by the governments there.