The Vice President of India, M. Venkaiah Naidu has called up on the pharmaceutical industry to work towards making India an International Capital of Generic Medicines.Addressing the 70th Indian Pharmaceutical Congress at Amity University, Noida today, Shri Naidu said that India becoming the largest provider of generic drugs globally with the Indian generics accounting for 20 % of global exports in terms of volume was an eloquent testimony to the competence of the Indian pharma sector in terms of quality and pricing.The Vice President said that apart from being the world leader in generic medicines, India should promote Indian systems of Medicine. He asked young researchers to work towards standardizing and benchmarking Indian systems of medicine and establish the efficiency, validity and efficacy of these traditional medicines, using globally established experimental protocols.The Vice President asked Pharma companies to go above and beyond their CSR mandates to provide life saving and other essential drugs to those who cannot afford them. He said that it was essential for a country like India to provide healthcare and medicines at affordable prices. In developing countries, India is rendering yeoman service by providing access to life saving medicines at affordable prices, he added.
Saying that pharmaceuticals was a priority area for Government, Shri Naidu stressed the need to further harness the potential of the sector by use of technology, innovation and research.Healthcare and its allied industries being the fifth-largest employer among all sectors, the Vice President asked the industry to invest in skilling. Given the significance of highly educated and specialized scientists in the sector, skill development is crucial, he said. He asked for a constant coordination between government and Industry to remove disconnect between demand and supply of skilled manpower in pharmacy sector.Shri Naidu said that National Skill Development Corporation which has identified more than 60 job roles for the pharmacy graduates and post graduates for consideration under the Pradhan Mantri Kaushal Vikas Yojna would aid the building of vocational and technical training framework, hasten skill up-gradation and encourage innovative thinking.Earlier, Shri Naidu interacted with CEOs of all major Pharmaceutical companies ahead of the inaugural event of the conference which was attended by more than 5000 participants from across India.The Minister for Excise and Liquor Prohibition, Uttar Pradesh, Shri Jai Parata Singh and several dignitaries from fields of medicine, pharmaceuticals and other were present on the occasion.