‘Government should work as a facilitator and not as a regulator’

The Modi governmen should encourage Indian pharma industry to have the slogan “Discover in India” and not “Made in India ” uIntroduce a tough auditing system as is being done by many regulators in developed countries.

• Introduce single ministry instead of two ministries
• Introduction of E-governance in the correct spirit
• Encourage complimentary medicines like Homeopathy, Unani, Ayurveda, etc.
• Industry should support the government for segments like HIV/AIDS, TB, malaria, cancer etc. with special rates
• Stakeholders should be involved in all policy related government committees
• Prove that the government is working in a really transparent way and adhere to a strict time frame for each clearance.
• Bring it to the notice of the world that India is the cheapest producer of good quality, efficacious medicines
• Encourage industry to invest in R&D which should be treated as a part of the CSR obligation.
• Put sincere efforts to revive MSME units which were closed down over a period. Out of 10000 manufacturing units in the country, more than 75 per cent are in the MSME segment.
• Restructure the tax system. Pharma industry faces so many taxes at present and many government department/agencies are controlling it. There should be a single window system in the real sense.
• Encourage cluster system and set up mega pharma towns like Vizag and those found in China.
• Remove disparity in excise of bulk drugs and formulation
• Instead of price control, government should have a good monitoring system. China has recently withdrawn control on medicines to avoid shortage of life saving drugs
• Educate the common man that the pharma is not a commodity industry but a lifesaving industry. Cost is secondary and life is primary.
• Utilise the huge infrastructure of PSU units through the PPP system.’
• Set up state owned institutes like AIIMS in all states.
• Government should work as a facilitator and not as a regulator. Make a think tank of industry experts to help the government in improving the volume, exports, and development of new molecules
• Encourage insurance for the common man so that there is no direct burden on the government for the treatment of patients and to increase budget allocation for health.

– BR Sikri, Vice President, BDMA, Vice President, IDMA