The annual general body meeting of the Bihar Drug Manufacturers Association (BDMA), scheduled for the 28th of this month, will pass a resolution demanding the state government to adopt a separate pharma policy for Bihar.
 
Worried over the indifferent attitude of the state government towards the drug manufacturing industry in Bihar, the association general secretary has called the annual general body meeting two months prior to the financial year ending, to discuss the issues in the industrial sector and submit memorandum to the government. Sanjiv Rai, the general secretary of BDMA, said no kind of support from the state or the central government is given to the pharma sector in Bihar. According to him, the state health ministry is unconcerned about the struggling pharmaceutical manufacturing units despite repeated requests for help to the government.
 
In a telephonic chat with Pharmabiz, Sanjiv Rai from Patna said, in Bihar 99 per cent of the total medicine requirements are procured by the government from other states when there are about 150 pharma units manufacturing all kinds of medicines and supplying to states outside of Bihar. Because of lack of governmental support, all companies are unable to comply with Schedule M norms. Only four units have GMP facilities, said Rai.
 
The full day programme of the AGM will be held at the premises of Asklepios Remedies in Patna. The meeting will elect new office-bearers for the next three years term. It will also decide to appoint one Pharma Consultant to direct and guide the manufacturing units spread across the state.
 
Pointing out that the state of Bihar is a 600 crore drug market, Rai said only because of intervention of Patna High Court, the government has relaxed the tender conditions, due to which a few of the domestic players could take part in the tender for government supply. According to him, the turnover based tender conditions set by the state health department were not in favour of the pharma MSMEs operating there and no business was getting to the industry from the government. So, the association approached the high court for help. Even now, out of the 150 companies, only five companies are supplying to the government.
 
With regard to the availability of medicines in hospitals, the BDMA secretary has commented that all the hospitals in the government level are lacking stocks of medicines. Patients admitted in the hospitals and those visit the OP wards are forced to buy medicines from outside. The state health department is not concerned of the poor situations in the hospitals.
 
After the AGM, BDMA will submit a memorandum to the chief minister seeking his intervention for an exclusive drug policy for the state and programs to strengthen the pharma sector in Bihar.