Earlier in October, the Indian pharmaceutical sector was under the magnifying glass after some 66 children in Gambia died after the consumption of cough syrups made from "substandard toxic ingredients" by a little-known domestic firm, Maiden Pharma.

In light of this incident, the Indian government has come up with a plan to set up a comprehensive database of drug formulations manufactured and marketed in the country to strengthen the monitoring mechanism and plug loopholes in the regulatory system. Several experts have called this decision a corrective action taken by the government to address the issue of quality monitoring and regulatory policing after the deaths of kids in Gambia.

An official source stated that the government has already constituted an expert panel to prepare a "National Drugs Database," which will list information on the drug, its manufacturer or marketer, dosage forms, and strengths. He noted that the seven-member committee comprises Dr. HG Koshia, commissioner of the Food and Drug Control Administration (Gujarat), Dr. AK Pradhan, joint drugs controller (India), Dr. Pooja Gupta, additional professor at AIIMS (New Delhi), Dr. Jerian Jose, a scientist at ICMR, and Dr. Gahane, joint commissioner of the FDA (Maharashtra). State drug controllers from Karnataka and Himachal Pradesh are also members of the panel.

The source added that, at present, there is no comprehensive national database that provides all details on drugs, but the Ministry of Health maintains "Sugam," an index of drug licenses issued to companies by state FDAs, while drug price regulator NPPA separately collects data on companies for price control. 

(Source: https://health.economictimes.indiatimes.com/news/policy/govt-to-set-up-national-drugs-database-to-monitor-quality/95297672 )