National Health Authority Releases Consultation Paper On Drug Registry, Invites Comments From Stakeholders

The National Health Authority (NHA) has released a consultation paper on Drug Registry. Envisioned under the ambitious Ayushman Bharat Digital Mission (ABDM), the drug registry is intended to be a single, up-to-date, centralised repository of all the drugs across all systems of medicine which are approved and are available in the Indian Market.

The Drug Registry application is proposed be designed using open-source technologies and will be interoperable, a Health Ministry release said on Thursday (31 March).

The consultation paper focuses only on Drug Registry within the National Digital Health Ecosystem and offers NHA’s current vision on the functionalities of the proposed Drug Registry, the process for its creation and potential benefits to various ecosystem stakeholders.

Each section has specific open questions where feedback from stakeholders is sought. Comments from the public are invited to ensure that Drug Registry is designed and developed in a collaborative and consultative manner, the ministry said.

The NHA will also organise a public webinar on Drug Registry to explain the consultation paper on 19 April 2022 from 3 pm onwards. The links will be shared on the ABDM website and the official social media channels of NHA.

The National Health Authority (NHA) is the apex body of the Central government, leading the implementation of Ayushman Bharat Digital Mission (ABDM) in coordination with different ministries, departments of the Central, State Governments, and private sector and civil society organisations.

The NHA is also responsible for the implementation of another flagship scheme of the Government of India - Ayushman Bharat Pradhan Mantri Jan Arogya Yojana (AB PMJAY).