New Delhi, Feb 25 (KNN) India along with South Africa is at the forefront for seeking a waiver through a proposal introduced in October 2020, before the WTO in the TRIPS council.

Minister of Railways, Commerce & Industry, and Consumer Affairs and Food & Public Distribution Piyush Goyal

While addressing the 6th International Conference on Pharmaceutical & Medical Devices Sector on Thursday he said that India had support of 57 WTO members countries.

He called upon the Indian pharmaceutical and health care sector to adopt best practices in terms of quality, facility and commitment to maintaining high standards.

“We all should collectively ensure that the nation will have good manufacturing practices. The entire health ecosystem should provide confidence to the world that India is the place you should look at for anything to do with health and is the one-stop solution”, he added.

The Union Minister said that quality does not come at a price, rather quality reduces the price. Regulatory & good manufacturing practices, systems and certifications, approvals, will always help to grow in scale and bring down the price.

India has seen a golden period for healthcare in the last few years. He remarked that we should make the next decade, the decade of India when the entire world should be following Indian standards.

He said “If we take it upon ourselves that India is going to CURE the world, I see no limitations in our ability to aspire to become a world dominant leader in the field of med-tech, medical devices, healthcare provider. CURE will come out of Cost-effective universal solution through research and enterprise.”

Calling upon the pharmaceutical industry to show a big heart across the world & support the TRIPS waiver that India has proposed at WTO, he said that this will help the entire world come out of the pandemic much faster. He said that the proposal has put the developed world under pressure, who are trying to protect the interests of some pharmaceutical companies.

The Union Minister said that India is well on the path to come out of the COVID pandemic and the Pharma industry is well on the path to growing out of the COVID pandemic. The Pharmaceutical industry provided 3 V's: - Ventilators - Vaccines - V-shaped recovery and these three V's are reflective of the strength of the industry.