The office of the Drugs Controller General of India (DCGI) has released the list of import approvals for bulk drugs, formulations, vaccines, diagnostic devices and blood products given upto February 2004. The DCGI has also given three new drug approvals in February.

The updated list of registration certificates issued for import of drugs is available on www.cdsco.nic.in. The new drugs approved last month are Dutasteride (BPH), Gefitinib (anti-cancer) and Imidapril (anti-hypersensive). The information is being updated after three months now.

Interestingly, the drugs and pharmaceutical industry has been looking forward for a more dynamic website for the office of the DCGI. According to them, the website should be updated immediately after an approval. They also feel that the status of each new drugs/import registration application should be known online for bringing in more accountability and transparency in the functioning of the department. Pointing out the dynamic nature of the websites of several drug authorities both in the developed countries as well as developing countries, they feel that it is high time the department felt a serious need to update the information on the web on a regular basis.

Defending the present position, officials with the health ministry point out that the information regarding the import registration approvals are normally passed on to the uploaders every month, but it is not updated due to reasons beyond their control. Given the fact that National Informatics Centre (NIC) is given the charge of updating the website, the officials are possibly hinting at the autonomy of another department as a reason for the delay. The argument, however, has few takers. The industry sources felt that the drug control department cannot pass on the blame to any other organization when all other websites can function in the most dynamic manner with notifications updated almost instantaneously. The websites of the Directorate General of Foreign Trade (DGFT) and the National Pharmaceutical Pricing Authority (NPPA) were projected as some excellent examples.