India Builds Stronger Medicine Surveillance Ecosystem Through IPC Partnerships

India has taken another major step towards strengthening its medicine safety and drug monitoring ecosystem, with the Indian Pharmacopoeia Commission (IPC) signing Memorandums of Understanding (MoUs) with the pharmacy councils of Bihar, Maharashtra, and Mizoram to expand pharmacovigilance systems and promote rational use of medicines nationwide.

The agreements were signed at the IPC headquarters in Ghaziabad by Dr. V. Kalaiselvan , Secretary-cum-Scientific Director of IPC, along with Dr. Prakash Sinha of Bihar State Pharmacy Council, Dr. H. Lalhlenmawia of Mizoram State Pharmacy Council, and Mr. Atul Ahire of Maharashtra State Pharmacy Council. Senior healthcare experts, including Dr. V. K. Paul , former Member of NITI Aayog, and Prof. Y. K. Gupta , President of AIIMS Kalyani, attended the event.

The collaboration aims to strengthen India’s medicine safety surveillance framework through improved adverse drug reaction (ADR) reporting , expansion of ADR Monitoring Centres (AMCs) , and wider participation of pharmacists in patient safety initiatives.

The IPC, an autonomous scientific institution under the Ministry of Health and Family Welfare, functions as the National Coordination Centre for the Pharmacovigilance Programme of India (PvPI) . Its role includes setting official medicine quality standards, monitoring drug safety, and publishing the Indian Pharmacopoeia and the National Formulary of India (NFI) .

Under the MoUs, IPC and the State Pharmacy Councils will work to promote the wider adoption of the NFI among registered pharmacists and healthcare institutions. Authorities are also pushing to establish the NFI as a mandatory reference document in hospital pharmacies to encourage evidence-based and rational medicine use.

Officials said the partnership comes at a crucial time as India continues to expand its position as one of the world’s largest pharmaceutical manufacturing hubs. India’s pharma industry, led by companies such as Sun Pharma, Cipla, Dr. Reddy’s Laboratories, Lupin, and Aurobindo Pharma , exports medicines to over 200 countries.

The initiative also addresses growing concerns over antimicrobial resistance , self-medication, counterfeit medicines, and irrational drug use. As part of the collaboration, IPC and the councils will organise workshops, pharmacist training programmes, and awareness campaigns to strengthen professional competencies in pharmacovigilance and patient care.

Officials said the long-term objective is to build a more responsive and technology-driven medicine safety system by integrating pharmacists more actively into India’s healthcare and drug monitoring framework.