BANGALORE: The Union health ministry has constituted a task force under the chairmanship of H G Koshia, Commissioner, Food and Drugs Control Administration (FDCA), Gujarat, for developing a software that could be used to track drugs - right from manufacturers to retailers - to check the menace of counterfeit drugs in the country.
A step in this direction came from the Allahabad High Court in the criminal writ petition (no 16212/2008 Brahmaji vs State of UP and others) for developing a drug tracking system.
Addressing the press after the third meeting with various stakeholders from the south, M Mitra, deputy drugs controller of India, said: "This task force was set up by the ministry to collect information on ways to implement the track and trace system in the country, for which there has been a mixed response from the industry."
The task force comprises nine members from different ministries and from the drug controller offices, including Dr B Jagashetty, Drugs Controller, Karnataka, M Mitra, Deputy Drugs Controller, India, Vishawajit Ringe, Senior Technical Director, National Informatics Centre, representatives from department of consumer affairs and legal affairs, department of commerce, the under secretary of drugs quality control, ministry of health and family welfare, Rishikant Singh (legal), CDSCO, and E Reddy, assistant drugs controller.
The task force will examine the feasibility of networking and tracking the drugs distribution system in the country. It will indicate the requirements for the software for drug tracking system to be developed by National Informatics Centre (NIC). It aims to examine different IT tools and methodologies and select the most suitable for implementation in the country. It will also suggest if bar coding and Unique identification number (UID) can in any way help in the networking of the drugs distribution with respect to manufacturing, import and export.
The task force will also examine and suggest the requirements for different stake holders like manufacturers, distributors and retailers. The team will recommend amendments in the drugs and cosmetics rules with respect to drug distribution system and tracking.