New Delhi, Aug 30 (IANS): Union Minister of Chemical and Fertilisers Mansukh Mandaviya on Monday said that the National Pharmaceutical Pricing Authority (NPPA) has been working more as a facilitator, not merely as a regulator.
He said this while addressing the Silver Jubilee Celebrations of National Pharmaceutical Pricing Authority (NPPA) here.
Addressing the event, Mandaviya, also the Health Minister, highlighted NPPA's contribution towards ensuring availability and affordability of medicines in the last 25 years.
The Union Minister also praised the Indian firms for continuously producing quality products. He urged them to produce medicines and bring innovative research with the goal of ensuring good health and well-being of the people, not only for commercial purpose.
Mandaviya assured Indian pharma companies of continuous support from the government.
He also recalled the positive contribution of Indian pharma companies during the Covid crisis and highlighted the importance of cooperation and collaboration between the government and industry in bringing quality healthcare to the masses.
At the inaugural session, Integrated Pharmaceutical Database Management System 2.0 (IPDMS 2.0) and Pharma Sahi Daam 2.0 App were launched.
IPDMS 2.0 is an integrated responsive cloud based application developed by NPPA with technical support from Centre for Advance Computing (C-DAC).
It is envisaged to optimise synergies in operations in order to promote Government's thrust on 'Ease of Doing Business' as it would provide a single window for submissions of various forms as mandated under Drug Price Control Order, 2013.
The Pharma Sahi Daam 2.0 App will have updated features like speech recognition; availability in Hindi and English; share button and bookmarking medicines.
This version of Pharma Sahi Daam also has facility for launching complaints by consumer through the consumer complaint handling module. The App will be available in both iOS and Android versions.
Bhagwanth Khuba, Minister of State for Chemicals & Fertilizers and New & Renewable Energy, who was also present on the occasion, lauded NPPA for being in service of the country and the pharma sector successfully for the last 25 years.
A publication titled 'An overview of Drug Pricing @ NPPA 25 year Odyssey' was also launched at the inaugural session.
The publication chronicles not only the 25 year journey of NPPA but also highlights the evolution of the drug regulatory system in the country with special emphasis on pricing regulation.