NEW DELHI, Apr 3:
There is no definite proposal for a new drug policy before the Government at present though some stakeholders have discussed the basic contents that should go into a draft pharma policy, Parliament was informed today.
This was in reply to a question whether the Government is proposing to formulate a new drug policy.
“At present there is no concrete proposal of a new drug policy at Government level,” Minister of State for Chemicals and Fertilisers Mansukh L Mandaviya said in his reply to the Lok Sabha.
A discussion draft eliciting the basic contents that should go into a draft pharmaceutical policy was discussed amongst some stakeholders, he added.
Some of the issues that were discussed are ,”making essential drugs accessible at affordable prices to the common masses and providing a longer term stable policy environment for the pharmaceutical sector,” Mandaviya said.
The stakeholders also discussed ways to make India sufficiently self -reliant in end to end indigenous drug manufacturing and ensuring world class quality of drugs for domestic consumption and exports, he added.
Other issues discussed were “creating an environment for research and development to produce innovator drugs and ensuring growth and development to Indian pharma industry,” Mandaviya said.
It was a preliminary discussion and no timeline has been fixed in this regard, he added.
In reply to a separate question in the Lok Sabha, Mandaviya said that National Pharmaceutical Pricing Authority (NPPA) has issued demand notices in 2017-18 in 217 cases for overcharging and the demanded amount is Rs 704.48 crore. (PTI)
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