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Pharma event stresses pricing, quality, safety, AIDS, service to common man

Maharashtra Chief Minister Manohar Joshi today urged the international pharmaceutical community to look forward to the state as an ideal investment destination.

Speaking at the inaugural function of the International Pharmaceutical Congress in Bombay, Joshi urged the local pharma community to keep the drug pricing within the reach of the common man without compromising on quality.

The event, a landmark for both Indian and the foreign pharmaceutical Industry, is jointly hosted by the Indian Pharmaceutical Congress Association which is celebrating its golden jubilee and the 17th Asian Congress of Pharmaceutical Associations under the banner of ''Better Healthcare for Humanity through Pharmacists''.

IPCA president Chandrakant Kokate stated that the production priorities of the Indian pharmaceutical industry will not shift from essential drugs for mass need to costly drugs in the wake of the new patent bill. He further said that exclusive marketing rights for imported drugs will not mean any sharp rise in drug prices.

Maharashtra's minister of state for health Daulatrao Aher exhorted India's 350,000 strong pharmacists community to combine and fight against today's killer diseases like AIDS and Hepatitis-B.

India was capable of indigenously mass producing a lot of essential and frontline medicines as was seen in the production of the Hepatitis-B vaccine. These medicines can take care of entire population and safeguard it from today's killer diseases, he said.

''Today our country faces the biggest threat from AIDS and the role of the pharmacist is most crucial in tackling such diseases,'' he urged.

Dr Simon Campbell, who discovered Viagra, said the United States Food and Drugs Administration had a 'fast track system' whereby Viagra was given clearance in a record six months. About $ 500 million had been invested in the extensive studying and researching of Viagra, he added.

UNI

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