Important to ensure India-manufactured medicines, medical products are of highest quality: Mandaviya

The need for a uniform portal with a national database with integrated legacy systems was also discussed at the conclave

It is of vital importance to ensure that medicines and medical products produced in India are of the highest quality, and the Centre and states should work together to establish robust regulatory systems, Union Health Minister Mansukh Mandaviya said on Monday.

India's vision is to be known as the world's most respected and recognised drugs regulator, he said.

The minister was speaking at the concluding session of a two-day brainstorming conclave -- 'Drugs: Quality Regulations and Enforcement' -- in Hyderabad.

Health secretaries and drug regulators from various states and union territories also participated in the conclave.

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"It is of vital importance to ensure that medicines and medical products produced in India are of the highest quality for both domestic and export markets. Within the federal democratic structure of the country, both the Centre and states are required to work together in harmony and synergy to ensure that we establish robust regulatory systems," Mandaviya said.

He further highlighted that the deep-dive sessions of the conclave provided a platform to all stakeholders to deliberate on different aspects of building a robust, resilient, transparent, accountable and citizen-friendly drugs regulatory framework.

This framework will not only ensure quality but also easy availability and accessibility of the highest quality of drugs and medical devices across the country, he added.

"The intense deliberations during the two days provided an opportunity to all the participants to work with a team spirit to deliberate on the building blocks of such a forward-looking, inclusive, holistic and comprehensive regulatory framework that would set the vision and meet the requirements of the next 25 years on the three levels of policy, priorities and implementation," the minister said.

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"Our vision is to be known as the world's most respected and recognised drugs regulator. This can only happen when we move from generic to quality-generic drugs and medical devices production in the country," he said.

The drugs regulatory systems ought to meet the needs to research and development, innovation, organisation strengthening and capacity enhancement, he said, adding 'quality by design' should be the motto.

The discussions at the conclave highlighted how to make the country's drugs regulatory systems transparent, predictable and verifiable through principles of uniform standards. It was also discussed how technology can play the role of a facilitator and enabler for uniformity, transparency and accountability, according to a statement issued by the Union health ministry.

The need for a uniform portal with a national database with integrated legacy systems was also discussed, it said.