To ensure quality and regular supply of raw materials for Ayurveda, Siddha, Unani and Homoeopathy drugs, the Union Ayush Ministry is mulling to set up a National Raw Drug Repository and eight Regional Raw Drug Repositories (RRDRs) across the country.
"These will not only act as collection centers of raw drugs available and used in each region but also as accredited reference library for authentication of raw drugs and establish standard protocols and keys for authentication of raw drug used in the herbal industries," said a senior official from the Ministry's National Medicinal Plant Board (NMPB).
The Board has already initiated the process for the development of a NRDR and region based Regional Raw Drug Repositories (RRDR).(See Box) The first phase of development of the NRDR and RRDRs will be five years from the date of sanction of the project.
The official said that need for such repositories has been constantly felt as the production in ayurveda sector is getting often disrupted due to non-availability of good quality raw materials for manufacturing ASUH drugs. This gives way to substandard raw material, taking toll on credibility of the ayurvedic system and medicines.
Players in the sector have welcomed the much-awaited move. K K Sharma, MD of Delhi-based Aimil Pharmaceuticals (India) manufacturer and marketer of ayurvedic proprietary and classical medicines said, "Repository centres will ensure regular quality supply of the raw material at economical prices. Also, there is a need not only to exercise a strict control over manufacturing and quality control operations but also issuing the drug licenses and GMP certificates after proper assessment.
"Such measures do deliver as is the case with our newly launched BGR-34, developed with the technical knowhow from CSIR for diabetes.
It has so far experienced a sales turnover of about Rs 100 crores, thereby ranking it to be amongst the top most in its class of products," he added.
On the same line, Rajiv Vasudevan, CEO of AyurVAID, a chain of classical Kerala Ayurveda (in-patient) hospitals in major cities also was upbeat of the Ayurveda market which needed regular supply of quality raw materials.
He said,"Ayurveda is poised to fill a critical gap in healthcare provision by addressing secondary prevention (nip-in-the-bud) and tertiary prevention (post acute-emergency) in addition to primal and primary prevention.
"Considering that over 2/3rds of healthcare demand today is constituted by non-communicable, lifestyle disorders that inevitably turn into chronic diseases, Ayurveda's time has come," Vasudevan said.
In the first phase, the NRDR and the RRDRs shall collect authentic and market samples and develop a database of traded medicinal plants, as enlisted in the NMPB sponsored national studies on demand and supply of medicinal plants, the Government official said.