HAL union backs move to place pharma dept under health ministry
PUNE: The Hindustan Antibiotics Mazdoor Sangh has welcomed the recommendation of the planning commission that the department of pharmaceuticals be transferred to the Union ministry of health.
At present, the department, responsible for supervision and manufacturing of drugs and their price control, is with the ministry of chemicals and fertilizers. The Hindustan Antibiotics Limited (HAL) is a government enterprise based in Pimpri.
General secretary of HAMS Arun Borhade said that in its effort to strengthen the drug manufacturing and distribution system, the sangh has demanded that pharma public sector undertakings be transferred to the ministry of health.
The commission’s high-level experts’ group on universal health coverage, headed by Dr K Srinath Reddy in its report has said that public interest would be served best by transferring the department of pharmaceuticals to the health ministry.
The report stated that the transfer would be appropriate since the ministry of health is responsible for ensuring quality, safety and efficacy of drugs and is accountable for unhindered availability of all essential drugs in the public healthcare system.
The committee has advocated reduction in unnecessary spending on non-essential medicines, improvement of all-round governance and accountability of drug-supply system to make medicines available for all.
The sangh, in a letter to Prime Minister Manmohan Singh, has observed that if the drug production and its deliverance are under one roof, the public healthcare system would become more effective.
HAL, the sangh stated, is the premier public sector undertaking of the central government and is engaged in manufacture of essential life-saving drugs at affordable prices to meet the healthcare needs of the country.
Member of Parliament Supriya Sule is the president of the sangh that was earlier headed by Union agriculture minister Sharad Pawar.