India's Vaccine Regulatory System Ranks High in WHO Assessment

India's vaccine regulatory system has been declared functional by the World Health Organisation (WHO) after a thorough review by an international team. The evaluation focused on safety, efficacy, and quality benchmarks. India retains maturity level 3 under the updated WHO Global Benchmarking Tool, highlighting its capabilities in vaccine regulation.

The World Health Organization (WHO) has declared India's vaccine regulatory system as functional after an evaluation by international experts at its Geneva headquarters. The review took place from September 16 to 20, covering safety, efficacy, and quality parameters, according to India's health ministry.

WHO's global standards for vaccine quality assurance include developing guidelines and benchmarking national regulatory authorities. The NRA re-benchmarking assessed the maturity of India's system, measuring it against the updated WHO Global Benchmarking Tool (GBT) Version VI.

Punya Salila Srivastava, Union Health Secretary, commended the efforts of the Central Drugs Standard Control Organisation (CDSCO) in maintaining India's position as a key player in affordable vaccines and medicines. The system retains maturity level 3, achieving high marks in several functions.

(With inputs from agencies.)