By IANS
New Delhi : US Health and Human Services Secretary Michael O. Leavitt Friday offered India technical assistance for establishing food and drug regulatory agency to devise safety and quality standards on the line of the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA).
“In my discussions with India’s health minister (Anbumani Ramadoss), the minister expressed desire to create a US FDA type agency in India,” he told reporters at an interaction with Indian business leaders organised by the Federation of Indian Chambers of Commerce and Industry (Ficci).
“Such a proposal was indeed laudable and the US would support India’s initiative by providing technical assistance for setting up such an agency,” he said.
Leavitt emphasised the need for Indian companies to meet the quality standards set out by the US.
“This would facilitate Indian companies in accessing US consumers. This means that Indian companies would have to get their food and pharmaceutical products certified by an agency that the US government trusts,” he said.
He said both the US and India have a mutual commitment to ensure that products that are produced for consumers are safe and are of high quality.
The US, he said, was committed to supporting India for eradication of polio, malaria and the HIV.
Earlier in the day, Leavitt visited the Municipal Corporation of Delhi (MCD) Maternity Centre in Sriniwaspuri in south Delhi and administered polio drops to slum children. He also interacted there with slum dwellers.
Promising all technical support in the fight against polio, he said: “What the Indian government is doing to eradicate polio is commendable. Both the US and India will walk together to wipe out polio from the country,” he said.
About 590 polio cases have been reported in the country, with Uttar Pradesh and Bihar reporting the maximum numbers.