Even as the debate is going on whether the drug regulatory system should be transferred to the Department of Pharmaceuticals (DoP), the Planning Commission has recommended 'empowering' of the Ministry of Health and Family Welfare to strengthen the drug regulatory system.

The Planning Commission in its final document for the current Five Year Plan, however, does not refer to the division of powers or changing the existing mechanism over the drug regulatory system in the country.

“Price controls and price regulation, especially on essential drugs, should be enforced. The Essential Drugs List should be revised and expanded, and rational use of drugs ensured. Public sector should be strengthened to protect the capacity of domestic drug and vaccines industry to meet national needs. Safeguards provided by Indian patents law and the TRIPS Agreement against the country’s ability to produce essential drugs should be protected. MoHFW should be empowered to strengthen the drug regulatory system,” the document said.

The panel also suggested a National Health Package to offer, as part of the entitlement of every citizen, essential health services at different levels of the healthcare delivery system.

“Government should increase public expenditure on health from the current level of 1.2 per cent of GDP to at least 2.5 per cent by the end of the Twelfth Plan, and to at least three per cent of GDP by 2022. General taxation should be used as the principal source of healthcare financing, not levying sector specific taxes. Specific purpose transfers should be introduced to equalise the levels of per capita public spending on health across different states. Expenditures on primary healthcare should account for at least 70 per cent of all healthcare expenditure. The technical and other capacities developed by the Ministry of Labour for the RSBY should be leveraged as the core of UHC operations - and transferred to the Ministry of Health and Family Welfare,” it said.