The All India Drugs Control Officers' Confederation (AIDCOC) has been invited to Sri Lanka to discuss about formation of a South East Asiatic Forum of drugs control officials at the Suppliers Convention 2002. With the invitation from the State Pharmaceutical Corporation of Sri Lanka, S. W. Deshpande, Secretary General, AIDCOC, attended the Convention. The State Pharmaceutical Corporation of Sri Lanka is the undertaking of the Govt. of Sri Lanka and is responsible for importing and distributing medicines required for the government institutions and the retail outlets.
Deshpande, while attending the Convention, made a presentation on Good Manufacturing Practices in Indian pharmaceutical industry in which he gave an overview of the status of the pharmaceutical industry in India. Giving an overview of the regulatory environment in India for quality monitoring, he also discussed the policy initiatives taken by the Govt. of India to strengthen the system of quality control over drug.
In the presentation, Deshpande also explained as to how quality of medicines is assured through compliance of Good Manufacturing Practices, and the regulatory mechanism for quality monitoring. In conclusion he said that the quality of medicines manufactured in India is assured through a strong self-regulatory mechanism followed by the industry, complimented by the compulsions of regulatory requirements and monitoring by the regulatory agencies. The presentation helped to clear certain misconceptions in the mind of the authorities and is expected to facilitate export of the medicine from India to Sri Lanka.
P. Dayarathne, Hon. Minister, Ministry of Health, Nutrition and Welfare, Govt. of Sri Lanka inaugurated the Convention. Sunethra Ranasinghe, Chairman, SPC welcomed the delegates and briefed about the organizational set up and the objectives of the SPC. She appreciated the officers of SPC for making SPC a profit-making organization. Prof. K.U. Kamalgoda, Managing Director, SPC made a presentation on the role and function of SPC.
The delegates from India, Bangladesh, Thailand and Pakistan participated in the Convention alongwith the officers of the S.P.C. Dr. Manoj Patel from Unique India, Dr. Bhupesh Diwan from Emcure Pharmaceuticals Ltd. and M. Balasubramanium from I.M.S. Health Sri Lank also made presentation. Shri Samuel, Deputy General Manager SPC compered the function.
During his stay in Sri Lanka, the AIDCOC secretary general met Dr. U.A. Mendis, Deputy Director General of Health, Dr. B.F.S. Samaranayake, Director, Drug Regulatory Authority and Food and Drugs Inspector in Drug Regulatory Authority, and briefed them about the activities of the Confederation and the plan of setting up the All India Training Academy for the Pharmacists. Explaining the idea of forming a South East Asiatic Forum for the drugs control officers, the forum suggested that through Forum, the drug control officials could interact and exchange information.
The response from the officers of Sri Lanka was enthusiastic and it was decided to propagate the idea to other Southeast Asiatic Countries and convene a meeting in January 2003 to give a final shape to such forum. In the meantime the AIDCOC and the Sri Lankan authorities should explore the feasibility of organizing training programs for the Drugs Inspectors in drug Regulatory Authority, Sri Lanka sand the officers of SPC.