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Gujarat FDA to open 2 offices in Somanath, Morbi shortly, one DTL in Patan
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Peethaambaran Kunnathoor, Ahmedabad
August 29 , 2016
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The Food and Drugs Control Administration (FDA) of Gujarat will open two
offices in the districts of Somanath and Morbi shortly for
strengthening the regulatory work of the FDA in the state.
With
this, the total number of FDA offices in Gujarat will rise to 27.
Currently, only 25 revenue districts have the offices of the food and
drug regulation. Out of the total 33 revenue districts, food and drug
control administration in eight districts are carried out by FDA
officers from neighboring districts. Nevertheless, six districts will
continue as having no independent FDA offices.
In an exclusive
interview with Pharmabiz at the venue of the Pharma Tech Expo 2016, Dr H
G Khoshia, the Commissioner of Gujarat FDA, said the government plans
to commission a new drug testing laboratory (DTL) simultaneously in the
northern district of Patan. However, in the beginning, the laboratory
with the modern technology will go with food testing only. Drug samples
will be tested there after a few months. The lab is ready for testing of
products.
Stating that drug testing laboratories are the
backbone of regulations, the Commissioner said presently the Gujarat
FDA’s DTLs are operated in districts of Rajkot, Bhuj and Baroda. The
department has recommended to the government for establishing a few more
DTLs in various parts of the state. The government is seriously
considering the proposal, he added.
Regarding functioning of
blood banks, Dr Khoshia responded to a query that the number of blood
banks has reduced to 146 from 158 within the last five years. He said
strict enforcement is the reason for the decrease in the number of blood
banks. According to him, licences of 12 blood banks had to be cancelled
following several inspections in these units which were running without
competent manpower, lack of modern equipments and not maintaining
proper documentation. But, the Commissioner has expressed satisfaction
over the way the state’s 260 blood storage centres are functioning.
He
pointed out that with the introduction of XLN software for on-line
communication from the office, the department could stop multiple
enrollment of pharmacists in various pharmacies by renting out their
certificates to many shop owners. With the help of the software, the FDA
headquarters at Gandhinagar can directly pass information to the
retailers and hospital pharmacists on NSQ drugs, black listing of
companies, product ban etc, he said.
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TOPICS
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