Uniform Code of Pharmaceutical Marketing Practices

Subject: Science and tech

Context:

The Alliance of Doctors for Ethical Health Care (ADEH) has expressed anguish and disappointment over the recent reply by the Minister of Chemicals and fertilizers Sadanada Gowda in the Parliament that there is no decision yet from the part of the government to make Uniform Code of Pharmaceutical Marketing Practices (UCPMP) mandatory

Concept:

• It is a voluntary code issued by the Department Of Pharmaceuticals relating to marketing practices for Indian Pharmaceutical Companies and as well medical devices industry.

Key features

• No gifts, pecuniary advantages or benefits in kind may be supplied, offered or promised, to persons qualified to prescribe or supply drugs, by a pharmaceutical company or any of its agents.
• Companies or their associations/representatives or any person acting on their behalf shall not extend any travel facility inside the country or outside, including rail, air, ship, cruise tickets, paid vacations, etc., to Health Care Professionals and their family members for vacation or for attending conference, seminars, workshops, CME programme etc.
• Free samples of drugs shall not be supplied to any person who is not qualified to prescribe such product.
• UCPMP Code states that, in order to appoint Medical Practitioners/HCPs as Affiliates there should be written contract, legitimate need for the services must be documented, and criteria for selecting affiliates must be directly related to the identified need.
• It also provides that the number of affiliates retained must not be greater than the number reasonably necessary to achieve the identified need and that the compensation must be reasonable and reflect the fair market value of the services provided.