Udyog Development Foundation (UDF), a not for profit organisation which concluded the Indian Pharmacists Revolution Yatra from Kashmir to Kanyakumari on January 4, 2014 has demanded setting up of a dedicated zonal office of Central Standard Control Organisation (CDSCO) for the North Eastern states of India on a priority basis.
“Licensing of blood banks, vaccines, medical devices and life saving medicines is currently being done only by CDSCO East Zone with its office at Kolkata. Besides this, the scenario in the North Eastern is grim going by the fact that there are only 8 drug inspectors inspecting 12 eastern zone states,” says Amitav Joy Choudhury, convener, IPR Yatra. Eastern Zone comprises of states - Bihar, Jharkhand, Orissa, West Bengal, Sikkim, Assam, Manipur, Mizoram, Nagaland, Arunachal Pradesh, Meghalaya and Tripura.
IPR is planning to submit a comprehensive proposal to the DCGI office, Planning Commission and the Union Health Ministry by January 15, 2014 based on the survey done of the North Eastern States from July 15, 2013 to September 26, 2013 on the same. As per the proposal, there is an urgent need for a dedicated office of CDSCO in the North Eastern region because regulation and compliance for life saving drugs is very much neglected in this region of the country which shares its borders with neighbouring countries.
"North Eastern states share boundary with countries like Myanmar, Bhutan, Bangladesh and China and hence pose a grave risk of getting counterfeit, substandard and spurious drugs smuggled from across the borders into India. Therefore we have discussed it with the Drug Controller General of India (DCGI) that a dedicated CDSCO office for North Eastern states of India should be put in place for the sake of patient safety and reliable healthcare system. He has assured that he will look into this aspect," Choudhary adds.
The IPR has also demanded modernization of the Regional Drug Testing Laboratory (RDTL) for the North Eastern states. Besides this, RDTL at Guwahati is also facing shortage of manpower with mere 12 lab personnel. States like Sikkim, Assam, Manipur, Mizoram, Nagaland, Arunachal Pradesh has no drug testing laboratory with Tripura and Meghalaya having sick drug testing labs. There is also demand for establishment of drug information centre and pharmacovigilance centre in Assam.