The South East Asian FIP-WHO Forum of Pharmaceutical Associations (SEARPharm Forum) will organize a one day workshop on “Quality Assurance and Compliance in Pharmaceuticals” on June 9, 2003 in New Delhi. The workshop is meant to reinforce the concepts of control, safety, efficacy and training as enshrined in quality assurance and compliance in pharmaceutical manufacturing, QA/QC, regulatory and distribution functions.

Dr Peter J Kielgast, founder of SEARPharm Forum and immediate past president of International Pharmaceutical Federation (FIP) is to inaugurate the workshop. Mohammed Razdar Khan, director, Synergex Group and Chairman, Canadian Programming Steering Committee of DIA, Canada is to deliver the keynote address.

The technical sessions include cGMP compliance – drug regulatory audits and strengths & weakness of the pharma industry to be presented by Dr Venkateswarlu, Deputy Drugs Controller (India), GMP and Compliance in Pharmaceutical Manufacturing by Dr A K Singal, MD, Pharmaplan (India) Limited, Detection of Counterfeit drugs by Dr Richard Jaehnke, project manager, GPHF, Germany, Demystifying ICH Q7A by Razdar Khan, Common technical document prepared by ICH for clinical studies/trials by Dr S Mukherjee, director, Pfizer Limited and Quality of Pharmaceutical care by Brijesh Regal, Managing Pharmacist, Apothecaries Limited.

A panel discussion to prepare a “roadmap for quality pharmaceutical products in SEA region” would also be part of the workshop.

The organizers are expecting pharmacists, pharmaceutical scientists, regulators, teachers and students to attend the workshop.

SEARPharm Forum works towards encouraging dialogue and collaboration among national pharmaceutical associations in the WHO-SEA region.

SEARPharm is the sixth regional wing of FIP, which has long been a unifier of national pharmaceutical organizations and is one of WHO's most abiding collaborators. FIP, which was granted NGO status by WHO in 1948, has a total membership of approximately 1 million pharmacists from over 70 countries.