Even as the monsoon session of Parliament is scheduled to begin on July 21, several Bills related to the health and pharma sectors are waiting for Parliament's final nod. In fact, several of these Bills have been pending for quite some time for introduction and passage in Parliament. The three-week monsoon session of Parliament will conclude on August 13.

The major Bills which have been waiting for Parliament's final nod in pharma and health sectors include Drugs and Cosmetics (Amendment) Bill, Biotechnology Regulatory Authority of India Bill (NBRA Bill), ART Bill, HIV/AIDS Bill, Ethical Guidelines for Biomedical Research on Human Subjects Bill, etc.

Among these bills, the NBRA Bill that seeks to establish Biotechnology Regulatory Authority of India to regulate research, import, transport, use of organisms and product produced from modern biotechnology has repeatedly been finding a place in the tentative list for transaction of business for the last several sessions of Parliament. In fact, the scientific community and other experts in the field have quite long been urging the central government to pass this crucial Bill that seeks to make the Biotechnology Regulatory Authority as an independent, autonomous, statutory agency to safeguard the health and safety of the people of India. The Bill is expected to get the Parliament nod during this session.

Likewise, the HIV/AIDS Bill has also been waiting in the wings for its final passage in Parliament. The Bill was in fact introduced in Rajya Sabha on February 11, 2014, but it was referred to the Parliamentary Standing Committee on Health and Family Welfare on  February 24, 2014 for examination and report within two months. However, the then Committee, headed by Brajesh Pathak, could not consider the Bill and present its report due to dissolution of the 15th Lok Sabha. Subsequently a new Committee was formed under Satish Chandra Misra and was granted extension upto 30 April, 2015 for presentation of report on the Bill. Now, the Parliamentary Standing Committee has submitted its report to Parliament recently and it is expected that the Bill may get the final nod from Parliament during this session.

Other Bills like Drugs and Cosmetics (Amendment) Bill and ART Bill are also in the final stage and are waiting for introduction and passage in Parliament.