Hyderabad, Mar 16 (UNI) Vice President M Venkaiah Naidu has said that world class drugs with unwavering quality at very affordable prices is the need of hour.

Addressing the 2nd decennial celebrations of Sarojini Naidu Vanita Pharmacy Maha Vidyalaya, here on Saturday, Mr Naidu urged the Indian Pharmaceutical industry to remain committed to high standards of quality in drug manufacturing and quality frameworks.

Calling for strict adherence to global standards in manufacturing drugs, he exhorted the industry to earmark more resources for discovering new molecules and new drugs without compromising on the affordability of drugs.

Mr Naidu stressed the need to give a thrust to research and innovation. New healthcare challenges are emerging every day, especially with an alarming rise in the number of non communicable and lifestyle diseases and cancers, he added.

The Vice President said that India had become the largest provider of generic drugs globally and in supplying anti-retroviral drugs used worldwide to combat AIDS .
He lauded the yeomen service rendered by Indian companies in providing life saving medicines at affordable prices in the developing countries.

Expressing his desire to see India emerge as the world leader in generic medicines, Mr Naidu wanted the young researchers to also work towards standardizing and benchmarking Indian systems of medicine. He wanted them to use globally established experimental protocols, to establish the efficiency, validity and efficacy of the traditional medicines.

Mr Naidu asked the Pharma companies to develop new molecules and drugs to combat some of the lesser known diseases, particularly the group of diseases called as “rare diseases”.

Saying that the number of people suffering from rare diseases was estimated to be more than 70 million in India, the Vice President said that it was important for the Indian Pharma industry to look into the need for developing low-cost drugs for treating rare diseases.

The Vice President said speedy introduction of generic drugs into the market should remain the focus. Rural health programmes, lifesaving drugs and preventive vaccines should also receive attention from policy makers and Pharma companies alike, he said.
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