The Tamil Nadu government will soon set up the State's second drug information centre in Chennai, for which the necessary equipment had already been received from the Central Government, sources from the health department said.

The Citizen Consumer and Civic Action Group (CAG) is the agency designated by National Pharmaceutical Pricing Authority (NPPA) to start and run the centre, which would also act as a consumer grievance redressal forum.

While speaking to Pharmabiz, S. Nandikesh, project co-coordinator of CAG said the National Pharmaceutical Pricing Authority had taken the decision to set up the centre. Now, the delay is because of documentation and approval from the state government. The Centre would be opened at the CAG office at Adyar and the recorded grievances would be passed on to the NPPA.

The first drug information and Pharmaco Vigilance Centre, which was set up last year on the campus of the Directorate of Medical Services is a joint venture between the Directorate of Drugs Control and the Tamil Nadu Pharmacy Council.

The Centre will help the patients who have questions about drugs prescribed to them by doctors. The qualified pharmacologists at the centre will answer the queries pertaining to drugs that callers raise. It would ensure that fake drugs were not circulated in the market, and outdated and banned drugs not sold. The centre would also receive information from the public, hospitals and others about the adverse effect of any drug.

In Tamil Nadu, there are over 600 drug-manufacturing units and a total of 40,000 drug stores. The patients needed to be educated on the dangers of overuse and underuse of drugs, he said.