CM Directs Preparation of New Essential Drugs List to Ensure Quality Medicines in Government Hospitals.
Shimla:
Chief Minister Sukhvinder Singh Sukhu yesterday directed the Health Department to prepare a new Essential Drugs List with the objective of ensuring the availability of quality medicines for patients in government health institutions across the state.
Presiding over a review meeting of the Health Department, the Chief Minister said that the proposed list would be thoroughly examined by a High Power Committee to ensure that only safe, effective and essential medicines are included. He stressed that access to quality healthcare is a priority of the state government and no compromise would be made with patients’ health.
The Chief Minister emphasized that the state’s move towards direct procurement of medicines from manufacturers is not merely a cost-cutting exercise but a strategic reform aimed at eliminating delays caused by middlemen and ensuring greater transparency in the supply chain. By bypassing intermediaries, the government intends to maintain a consistent and reliable supply of life-saving drugs in all government health institutions, for which necessary financial and administrative provisions would be made.
CM Sukhu also directed officers to strengthen the sampling and quality testing mechanism of medicines supplied to government hospitals. To achieve this, he announced that dedicated quality testing cells would be established in every medical college in the state. These cells would be provided with adequate staff, specialized training and modern equipment. In the first phase, such facilities would be set up at Indira Gandhi Medical College (IGMC), Shimla, and Dr. Rajendra Prasad Government Medical College (RPGMC), Tanda.
Further, the Chief Minister instructed the department to ensure strict quality checks of medicines manufactured by pharmaceutical companies operating in Himachal Pradesh. He directed officers to strictly enforce the provisions of Schedule-M of the Drugs and Cosmetics Rules, 1945, which lay down standards for good manufacturing practices. Reiterating the government’s firm stance, he said that there would be zero tolerance for substandard medicines.
The meeting was attended by Secretary Health M. Sudha Devi, Special Secretary Ashwani Kumar, Director AYUSH Nipun Jindal, Director Medical Education Dr. Rakesh Sharma, Director Health Services Dr. Gopal Berry, and other senior officers of the Health Department.
