THE Department of Pharmaceuticals (DoP) has recently circulated a draft Pharmaceutical Policy. The broad ambitions outlined in the policy are unexceptionable, and include:
1. Making essential drugs accessible at affordable prices to the common masses;
2. Providing a longer term stable policy environment for the pharmaceutical sector;
3. Making India sufficiently self-reliant in end-to-end indigenous drug manufacturing;
4. Ensuring world class quality of drugs for domestic consumption and exports;