Health Ministry defines maximum permissible limits of antibiotics in food animals

Health Ministry defines maximum permissible limits of antibiotics in food animals

Antibiotic resistance has become a major public health threat worldwide. Use of antibiotics in food animals is emerging as a major cause of emergence of antibiotic resistance. The WHO has also recently published guidelines recommending farmers and the food industry to stop using antibiotics routinely to promote growth and prevent disease in healthy animals.

The Ministry of Health and Family Welfare has notified amendment to Food Safety & Standards (Contaminants, Toxins & Residues) Regulations, 2011 on 7th November, 2017.

Now called the Food Safety and Standards (Contaminants, toxins and Residues) Amendment Regulations, 2017, the notification contains maximum permissible limits of various antibiotics in meat and meat products including chicken. Maximum permissible limits of 37 antibiotics and 67 other veterinary drugs are prescribed for chicken.

“(2) No person shall use any of the following antibiotics and other pharmacologically active substances in any unit which processes sea foods including shrimps, prawns or any variety of fish and fishery products, namely. 1. Nitrofurans including- (i) Furaltadone; (ii) Furazolidone; (iii) Nitrofurnatoin; (iv) Nitrofurazone. 2. Chloramphenicol. 3. Sulphamethoxazole. 4. Aristolochia spp and preparations thereof. 5. Chloroform. 6. Chloropromazine. 7. Colchicine. 8. Dapsone. 9. Dimetridazole. 10. Metronidazole. 11. Ronidazole. 12. Ipronidazole and other nitromidazoles. 13. Clenbuterol. 14. Diethylstibestrol. 15. Glycopeptides. 16. Stilbenes and other steroids. 17. Crystal Violet. 18. Malachite Green.”

The tolerance limits of various antibiotics used in human beings and animals, exclusively used in animals and other various veterinary drugs have been specified in the notification.

The draft notification is available on FSSAI website. Objections and suggestions have been invited from all the stakeholders including general public within 30 days of the notification i.e. by 6th December, 2017.

(Source: Press Information Bureau, Ministry of Health & Family Welfare, November 20, 2017)

Health Ministry launches a new ‘Test and Treat Policy for HIV’ for India

Health Ministry launches a new ‘Test and Treat Policy for ,’ for India The Union Minister for Health & Family Welfare, Shri JP Nadda launched the ‘Test and Treat Policy for HIV’ yesterday. As per the policy, “as soon as a person is tested and found to be positive, he will be provided with anti-retroviral therapy (ART) irrespective of his CD count or clinical stage. This will be for all men, women, adolescents and children who have been diagnosed as a HIV + case. This will improve longevity, improve quality of life of those infected and will save them from many opportunistic infections, especially TB,” said the Health Minister. A National Strategic Plan for HIV for next seven years is under way. The Health Minister emphasized on the need to address stigma & discrimination towards HIV to enable persons infected and affected with HIV access health services. The long pending HIV/AIDS Act has been passed very recently to facilitate this. “Very few countries globally have such a law to protect rights of people infected with HIV,” Shri Nadda elaborated. The key provisions of HIV/AIDS Bill are prohibition of discrimination, informed consent, non-disclosure of HIV status, anti-retroviral therapy & opportunistic infection management, protection of property of affected children, safe working environment and appointment of ombudsman in every State. The Health Ministry has intensified its efforts to find all those that are estimated to be infected with HIV. “Out of 21 lakh estimated with HIV, we know only 14 lakh. To detect remaining we have revised national HIV testing guidelines and are aiming to reach out to people in community and test them where they are, of course with proper counseling and consent,” Shri Nadda mentioned. Shri Nadda further said that all those who are positive should get treatment and for that the Health Ministry is constantly expanding treatment delivery sites. “We have nearly 1600 ART and Link ART sites where treatment is provided across the country and recently we crossed the 1 million people on ART, second country in world to have such large numbers on free lifelong treatment. We have been able to avert 1.5 lakh deaths due to ART and we will be able to avert 4.5 lakh more deaths by expanding provision of ART,” Shri Nadda informed. Shri Nadda stated that the 90:90:90 strategy that the Ministry has adopted will help to identify 90% of those infected, place 90% of these on treatment and ensure 90% have their virus under control. “This strategy will offer us an opportunity to work towards our commitment during HLM and WHA on “ending AIDS by 2030” as a part of the Sustainable Development Goal (SDG).” (Source: Press Information Bureau, Ministry of Health and Family Welfare, April 28, 2017) Dr KK Aggarwal National President IMA & HCFI

IMA & HCFI congratulate leading policy expert Mr Rajendra Pratap Gupta on his appointment as an advisor to the Union Health Minister

IMA & HCFI congratulate leading policy expert Mr Rajendra Pratap Gupta on his appointment as an advisor to the Union Health Minister New Delhi, 20th July 2016: Leading public policy expert and global healthcare leader, Mr. Rajendra Pratap Gupta, has been appointed as an advisor to the Union Minister for Health & Family Welfare. He is currently a member of the Central Council of Health & Family Welfare, the apex advisory body of the Ministry for Health and Family Welfare. Congratulating his achievement, Padma Shri Awardee Dr KK Aggarwal – President Heart Care Foundation of India (HCFI) & Honorary Secretary General Indian Medical Association (IMA) said, “Mr. Rajendra Gupta has made innumerable contributions to public policy, innovation and healthcare over the past decade. With over two decades of experience as a policy leader, economist and healthcare expert, Mr Gupta is likely to bring a fresh and practical perspective to the ministry. We are hopeful he will play an instrumental role in helping streamlining the sector and help address the major gaps that exist in the healthcare system today.” Sources in the ministry acknowledged that they have been seeking his advice for many years on various issues, and his joining the ministry will be of immense help to them. Gupta brings with him the rare quality of being a visionary along with his uncanny knack for executing plans in a record time. His colleagues know him for being a tough task- master, who is credited for turning around IMS Health in Nepal in three months, turning around the Medicine Shoppe operations in India and other consumer brands in a short time. He was featured as ‘Thought leader of the year’ three years in a row, felicitated as the ‘Global healthcare leader’ of the year in 2012 by the Sherriff of Los Angeles, and featured amongst the ‘25 living legends of healthcare in India’ in 2016. In 2007, he quit full time CEO role and started focusing on public policy and he is credited with championing the cause of healthcare reforms. He is the founder president of the Disease Management Association of India (DMAI), the only not-for-profit organisation in India having a special consultative status with the United Nations – ECOSEC. In 2010, the Government of Chhattisgarh incorporated his health reforms recommendations in their plans. The erstwhile Planning Commission would seek his inputs on key initiatives. Recently, Gupta has also authored a healthcare best- seller, ‘Healthcare reforms in India – Making up for lost decades’, published by Elsevier. He has served as a board member and advisor across the globe. He is the only Indian to serve as a board member for two terms on the Care Continuum Alliance, USA (Formerly , Disease Management Association of America) - amongst the largest healthcare not-for-profits in the United States. He has also served on the global agenda council of the World Economic Forum, and has been invited by United Nations, World Health Organization and International Telecommunications Union (ITU), besides others