In an effort to gauge their mood and to influence their views on national pharmaceutical policy, especially on the sensitive issue of price control, the pharmaceutical associations in the country will informally meet some of the members of the Group of Ministers (GoM) on National Pharmaceutical Policy.

The informal and individual meetings will be held before the pharmaceutical industry associations make their formal presentation to the GoM. Though the GoM in its first meeting held on April 10 had decided to invite all the major pharma associations and NGOs for the presentation of their case afresh, the pharmaceutical associations are yet to get the invitations from the GoM.

The name of GoM chairman Sharad Pawar does not figure in the list of Ministers who will be wooed by the associations to mould their views in favour of the pharma industry. "We will individually meet some of the ministers to present our case informally to them. We wanted to convince them about our views before they form an individual viewpoint which will be difficult to change at a later stage", a senior pharma association leader said.

According to sources, the pharmaceutical associations will meet some of the members of the GoM individually to gauge their views on the pharma policy, especially on the vexed issue of price control. The names that are in the active consideration for influencing their views in industries favour included Commerce and Industry Minister Kamal Nath and Health Minister Anbumani Ramdoss. "Kamal Nath is a very pragmatic person and he has a comprehensive idea of how the economics works", a pharma association leader said.

After about three months of its formation by Prime Minister Dr Manmohan Singh to finalise the controversial National Pharmaceutical Policy, the GoM headed by Union Agriculture Minister Sharad Pawar held its first meeting on April 10. The meeting broadly discussed the pharmaceutical policy draft and there was no focus on any specific aspect of the policy. However, the meeting decided to invite all the major pharma associations and NGOs to present their views on the policy afresh.

Chemicals and Fertilisers Minister Ram Vilas Paswan, Commerce and Industry Minister Kamal Nath, Health Minister Anbumani Ramdoss, Science and Technology Minister Kapil Sibal, Law Minister H R Bhardwaj and Deputy Chairman of the Planning Commission Montek Singh Ahluwalia are the members of the GoM. The Union Cabinet on January 11 had referred the policy to the GoM, after industry and the Chemicals Ministry took contrasting stands on the ticklish issue of price control.

The draft National Pharmaceutical Policy, aimed at ensuring life-saving drugs available at affordable prices, was submitted to the central government by the Union Chemicals and Fertilisers Ministry on December 28, 2005 for its implementation. But, the Policy ran into rough weather when the pharma industry took serious exception to several issues in the draft including the price control. Besides, several other Union ministers also took a divergent view on the policy forcing the matter to be left to the discretion of the Prime Minister.

Amid speculations of the industry trying to influence the Prime Minister to change the policy, the Prime Minister constituted a 7-member GoM under Pawar to finalise the policy in January this year.