According to new guideline of UCPMP 2024, heads of pharmaceutical companies have asked to submit an undertaking to the government.
Till June 30, Pharma companies are asked to submit an undertaking by the government. For the financial year 2025 self declaration form has been sent out by The Department of Pharmaceuticals under UCPMP to all Pharmaceutical associations for compliance.
This new regulation of UCPMP banned Pharmaceutical companies from organizing any workshop in abroad, arranging them any hotel stay and expensive cuisine for healthcare professionals, and luring them for a business.
Gifts of personal benefit offered to healthcare professionals or their family members are prohibited by code which was notified in March by DoP. Since 2015, pharma companies have been following guidelines for marketing, which was merely voluntary.
DoP secretary Arunish Chawla said,“ This means it strikes the right balance between cooperative and coercive compliance”. Vinod Paul, head of a five-member committee recommended the new code after reviewing the previous voluntary guidelines, Which did not address concerns of the influence of offering gifts to medical professionals.
The new regulation of UCPMP 2024 way of reporting and overlook. In the code, it is mandatory for pharma associations to create an ethical committee which should be linked to the UCPMP portal. In such panel of department, auditors will do risk-based audits of such expenses. If this code is breached, the committee can suspend and expose the entity that is associated with it from the association.
