Delhi Pharmaceutical Trust has now demanded ministry of health not to make any changes to the Recruitment Rules for appointment of Drugs Controller General of India and other top regulatory positions in the Central Drugs Standards Control Organization (CDSCO).

This follows the efforts of the ministry of health to revise the 59th report of the Standing Committee of Parliament to consider selection of candidates armed with medical degrees for a post related to approval of pharmaceuticals manufactured in the country. In this regard, Delhi Pharmaceutical Trust recommended to the government that only persons with PhD, post graduate qualifications in pharmacy with adequate experience in drug regulation, research, pharmacopoeia, manufacture and quality control of drugs at the Centre and the state level would be the right choice for the post of DCGI and top regulatory posts in the CDSCO.

“Top regulatory head positions like the DCGI involve effective implementation and overseeing drugs and pharmaceuticals import, approval of new drugs, manufacture, sale and distribution, Expert knowledge of pharmacy and pharmaceuticals along with administrative experience in these areas is vital to provide positive leadership and effective enforcement of drugs. In the current global regulatory scenario, maintenance and growth of Indian pharmaceutical sector is key to the country”, pointed out Dr. DBA Narayana, managing trustee, Delhi Pharmaceutical Trust.

Regulating this sector is not on the same lines that of US and UK where the stress is more on review of the new drug introductions. Hence changing recruitment rules for DCGI and other top positions in the CDSCO to persons with other than pharmacy qualifications and experience is dangerous pointed out Dr. Narayana in a communiqué to the Union government.

“There is a huge pool of highly qualified pharmacy candidates in the country  who are armed with the required expertise to comprehend the complicated formulations, active ingredients, its production under good manufacturing practices (GMP) who could easily take on the top job as DCGI or responsible regulatory positions CDSCO,” Dr. Narayana told Pharmabiz.

The 59th report of the Standing Committee of Parliament on the Ministry of Health also recommended strongly that pharmacy qualification required for DGGI and other top positions of the CDSCO should not be equated with medical qualifications. “A post graduate surgeon is in fact as far away from understanding pharmaceutical sciences as an airline captain is from understanding the intricacies of cruise ship. Therefore the existing Recruitment Rules have taken a  very conscious and thoughtful view of this fact. A proposal to make a surgeon or a doctor the chief of the army under that belief that after all army involves health of serving and wounded soldiers and no one can manage them better than that the doctor,” stated the DPT representation to the Ministry of Health.