FOPE organises workshop on human error reduction at Hyderabad

The Federation of Pharma Entrepreneurs (FOPE) recently hosted a workshop on Human Error Reduction. The event, held in Hyderabad, brought together regulatory officials as well as industry leaders and experts to discuss strategies for minimising errors and enhancing quality in pharma manufacturing.

Key participants included Chief Guest, VB Kamalasan Reddy, IPS, Director General, Drugs Control Administration, Government of Telangana; Guest of Honour, K Raja Bhanu, Director General, Pharmaceutical Exports Promotion Council (Pharmexcil), Guest of Honour, Madan Mohan Reddy, Whole Time Director, Aurobindo Pharma and other notable speakers from various pharma companies and industry associations. 

Some of the key themes discussed were importance of quality control in pharma manufacturing; strategies for human error reduction, regulatory expectations and compliance, impact of human errors on industry reputation and public health, role of technology and automation in error reduction and challenges faced by the Indian pharma industry. 

Chakravarthi AVPS, Sr. Vice President (National) & Chairman of FOPE Telangana & Andhra Pradesh, kick started the event by setting the context, he pointed that India plays a huge role in providing cost effective, life saving drugs worldwide. Over 40 per cent of generic drugs in the US are from India. However, he also advised that India Pharma Inc needs to  fortify its strengths and mitigate its challenges. It should work together to ensure that the highest quality is maintained across all processes and products. He also informed that the workshop on human error reduction was one of the steps in that direction. 

Reddy, the Chief Guest emphasised the responsibility of the pharma industry in ensuring public safety and highlighted three major challenges: quality, global competition, and spurious drugs. He also stressed the importance of maintaining public trust in the pharma system.

He also outlined ambitious goals for the sector, projecting “to reach $130 billion by 2030 and maybe $250 billion by 2040.”

K Raja Bhanu, Director General of the Pharmaceutical Exports Promotion Council (Pharmexcil), also underscored the critical nature of human errors in the industry. He noted, “Errors in this field can lead to severe consequences, including financial losses and damage to the industry’s credibility, ultimately affecting public health.”

He also stressed that employees should be encouraged to report errors without fear, and management should support this open communication to facilitate proper corrective actions.

On the other hand, Madan Mohan Reddy highlighted, “Regardless of whether we are dealing with regulatory or non-regulatory markets, the core responsibility remains the same: we are manufacturing drugs for human consumption, and quality must be uncompromised.”

The event covered a wide range of topics crucial to error reduction in the pharma industry. Harish Jain Manawat, President (National) of FOPE, highlighted the uniqueness of the workshop.

Narayana Reddy, Chairman, Covalent Drugs, pointed out the role of employee attitudes in causing errors, “Human errors primarily occur due to attitude problems among the people working with us… Industry leaders, department heads, and those in charge of quality control and assurance must change the approach and attitude of their teams towards maintaining quality.”

The workshop also addressed the importance of leveraging technology to reduce errors. Saikumar Talasila, Director, Indu Drugs, noted, “Despite the evolution of these techniques, their widespread adoption across industries is still a work in progress.”

Chakravarthi AVPS received praise for organising this timely event where several insights and strategies were shared to reduce human errors, enhance product quality, and maintain India’s position as the “Pharmacy of the World.