APDCA to spend Rs 1.39 cr for facility upgradation in 2009-10

Mumbai-The Andhra Pradesh Drug Control Administration (APDCA) will utilise Rs 1.39 crore sanctioned under the Department for International Development (DFID) programme, the international financial assistance agency of the UK, to strengthen its monitoring activities in the current financial year.The government, which sanctioned Rs 290.93 lakh and Rs 138.59 lakh in 2007-08 and 2008-09, respectively, has allocated Rs 138.59 lakh for the current financial year for the administration to collect and analyse drug samples from tribal and under-served areas and to enhance the working condition of drug control officials, according to APDCA sources. DFID, from the year 2007, has sanctioned considerable fund to improve the healthcare delivery mechanism in Andhra Pradesh.This year, the fund allocated for procurement of drug samples for analysis in tribal and under-served areas with Rs 12 lakh, mobility support for enforcement officers with Rs 40.32 lakh and improvement of communication system with Rs 5.33 lakh. An amount of Rs 29.20 lakh will be spend for strengthening of drugs control laboratory in Vijayawada including creation of Rs 10 lakh estimated training centre and Rs 50.74 lakh is allocated for computerization and net working of drugs control administration, informed R P Meena, director general, Drugs and Copyrights, Drug Control Administration, Andhra Pradesh.At present, the administration collects almost 350 samples from under-served and remote areas every month apart from regular samples of 400 samples to ensure the quality of pharmaceutical products distributed in these hard-to-reach regions. "Under the programme, communication is improved by providing cell phones to all officers and fax machines to all offices in the state. Transport facilities for officers are improved by providing 50 four-wheelers to officers," informed Meena.In the year 2007-08, under the programme, the government had released an amount of Rs 40.32 lakh for mobility of enforcement officers in remote areas. Subsequently the government has also released another Rs 40.32 lakh afresh during the year 2008-2009, under the programme. Through these funds, the administration has hired services of 62 vehicles for the enforcement officials for intensifying the raid, search and drug seizure activities. The fund will also be utilised to complete the modernisation programmes in the administration's two drug testing laboratories - at Hyderabad and Vijayawada - to be upgraded with National Accreditation Board for Testing and Calibration Laboratories (NABL) accreditation. The upgradation project has received more than Rs 10 crore in the past three financial years from DFID Programme.During the last five years, from 2004-05 to 2008-09, as many as 23287 samples have been analyzed in both the drugs control laboratories. Out of this, 454 drug samples have been found to be not of standard quality during the years. The percentage of not of quality standard drugs prevailing in the state is less than two per cent even as the national average during this period is reported as six to eight per cent. The prevalence of spurious drugs in the state is 0.21 per cent where as the national average for the same is 0.47 per cent, according to APDCA officials.