No compromise on drug quality, health minister tells govt hospitals

Citizens of the state must get good quality medicines, with no compromise of any kind. This was stated by Maharashtra Health Minister Prakash Abitkar. He has directed that a new device called the "Counterfeit Drug Detection Device" be used effectively to check the quality of medicines supplied to hospitals under the Public Health Department. He also asked that regular checks be carried out following the standard operating procedure (SOP) laid down for testing drug quality.

Abitkar was speaking at a meeting held at Arogya Bhavan on checking the quality of medicines. The meeting was attended by senior officials including Public Health Department Principal Secretary Dr. Nipun Vinayak, Health Secretary E. Ravindran, Commissioner of Health Services Sanjay Katkar, Commissioner of Urban Health Services Dr. Sunil Bhokare, and Director of Health Services Dr. Nitin Ambadekar.

The use of the device for checking the quality of medicines supplied to the state's public hospitals was evaluated in the presence of experts. Following this, under a government decision, one device each has been provided for the state's eight divisions. Senior drug manufacturing officers at the deputy director's office have already been trained to operate the device through the Maharashtra Medical Goods Procurement Authority.

In view of this, a timetable for drug testing will now be set for the districts of each division and actual field inspections will be carried out. A detailed report on the testing process, the extent of compliance, and the number of medicines tested will have to be submitted every week.

A special drug quality checking drive will be run for the next one month across all eight divisions of the Health Department. Under this drive, samples of newly received medicines as well as existing drug stocks already in hospitals will be checked randomly. Separate responsibilities will be fixed for the initial test, sending samples for further testing, what is to be done after the confirmation report is received, and keeping records of the same.

Since all hospitals come under the State-Level Hospital Cell, the use of the Counterfeit Drug Detection Device will be monitored through the joint director and the hospital-level cell. It was also suggested that the concerned authority, the hospital system and the procurement system form joint teams to make the checking work more effective.

Staff concerned are to be trained in sample testing by drug type, operating the device, analysing test results and record management. Practising on actual samples in every department will increase accuracy in testing, Health Minister Abitkar said. The system of regular field-level checks will be further strengthened by making effective use of these devices provided for checking drug quality. It was made clear that the process of drug quality checks will be implemented more strictly, keeping the supply of good quality medicines and the safety of citizens' health as the top priority.