DRUG QUALITY CONTROL
- The Drug Control Cell (DCC), Department of AYUSH deals with regulatory and quality control matters of Ayurveda, Siddha, Unani and Homoeopathy drugs including amendment in the regulations, introduction of new regulations and examination of other drugs related issues.
- The DCC provides secretarial support to the two statuary bodies – Ayurveda, Siddha, Unani Drugs Technical Advisory Board (ASUDTAB) and Ayurveda, Siddha, Unani Drugs Consultative Committee (ASUDCC).
NATIONAL AIDS CONTROL PROGRAMME
- India has the third highest number of estimated people living with HIV in the world.
- According to the HIV estimations 2012, the estimated number of people living with HIV / AIDS in India was 89 lakh, with an estimated adult (15-49 age group) HIV prevalence of 0.27% in 2011.
- India has shown an overall reduction of 57% in the annual new HIV infections among adult population from 2.74 lakh in 2000 to 1.16 lakh in 2011.
- The trend of annual AIDS deaths is showing a steady decline since roll out of the free Anti-Retroviral Therapy (ART) programme in India in 2004.
- It is estimated that around5 lakh lives have been saved due to ART till 2011.
- The first phase of National AIDS Control Programme (NACP—I) was launched by the Government of India in 1992 to combat the HIV infection in the initial stage itself.
- With the evolving trends of the HIV / AIDS epidemic, the focus of the sebsequent phases of the programme (NACP-II) in 1999 and NACP-III in 2007) shifted from raising HIV/AIDS awareness to behavior change.
- Over the period 2012-2017, NACP-IV aims to accelerate the process of reversal, further strengthening the epidemic response in India.
- The Link Worker Scheme is a community-based outreach strategy to address HIV prevention and care needs of high risk groups and vulnerable population in rural areas.
- Syndromic case management of Sexually Transmitted Infections (STI) / Reproductive Tract Infections (RTI) is being provided through 1,131 Designated STI/RTI Clinics (DSRC), branded as “Suraksha Clinics“.
- The division of Blood Safety has been renamed as the division of Blood Transfusion Services. The change in nomenclature is to broaden the horizon of blood safety to include transfusion transmitted infections, immune-hematology, quality management systems, logistics and other processes involved to improve the confidence in the “safe blood”.
- India is a signatory to the Rome Declaration ‘Achieving Self-Sufficiency in Safe Blood and Blood Products, based on Voluntary Non-Remunerated Donation’ in
- New initiatives, such as development of a Plasma Fractionation Centre, four Metro Blood Bank projects for setting up Centres of Excellence in Transfusion Medicine are being aggressively taken up.
- The National Blood Transfusion Council, an autonomous body, has been set up within DAC and is the apex policy making body for all the matters pertaining to access, quality and safety of blood and blood products.
