(THE GIST OF PIB) Indian Pharmacopoeia Commission

(APRIL-2024)

Recently, the pharma standards body Indian Pharmacopoeia Commission (IPC) has issued a drug safety alert over nimesulide, saying the pill can trigger rashes on the skin.

It is an autonomous Institution of the Ministry of Health and Family Welfare, Government of India. It is created to set standards of drugs in the country.

Its basic function is to update regularly the standards of drugs commonly required for the treatment of diseases prevailing in this region.
It publishes official documents for improving the Quality of Medicines by way of adding new and updating existing monographs in the form of Indian Pharmacopoeia (IP).
It further promotes the rational use of generic medicines by publishing the National Formulary of India.
It prescribes standards for identity, purity and strength of drugs essentially required from the health care perspective of human beings and animals.
It also provides IP Reference Substances(IPRS) which act as a fingerprint for identification of an article under test and its purity as prescribed in IP.