Astute, sharp, diligent and an issue solver — that is how friends, colleagues and former bosses describe Sudhansh Pant, the brand new Union well being secretary.

Pant is the primary well being secretary who, following his tenure within the Department of Pharmaceuticals, brings with him technical information regarding the medication and pharmaceutical trade.

In June, in a bureaucratic reshuffle by the central authorities, Rajasthan cadre IAS officer Pant was named the brand new well being secretary after Rajesh Bhushan was relieved of the cost.

Pant holds an engineering diploma from the Indian Institute of Technology, Kharagpur, and joined the Indian Administrative Service (IAS) in 1991.

With common elections in lower than a yr, specialists consider it may very well be a really difficult time for the brand new Union well being secretary.

One of his high challenges is shortly safeguarding India’s status because the “pharmacy to the world” by addressing the issue of sub-standard and low-quality drugs. Pant is also expected to overhaul the country’s apex health regulatory agency, Central Drugs Standard Control Organisation (CDSCO).

The pending issue of e-pharmacies too is awaiting regulatory clarity apart from several other issues such as sustaining the momentum and focus on healthcare in the post-Covid world, making India ready for the next pandemic and pushing the research and innovation in healthcare.

Another important issue is meeting the deadline for the elimination of tuberculosis by 2025 — five years ahead of the global deadline as promised by Prime Minister Narendra Modi. Pant may also need to check the progress of targets (which are currently lagging) fixed by India’s National Health Policy which was released over six years ago.

What makes Pant the ideal choice?

“Pant is an ideal officer to hold the position of health secretary,” Dr VK Subburaj, former secretary, division of prescription drugs, stated.

Pant was joint secretary beneath Subburaj in 2015-16 the place he was engaged on a number of crucial points, together with the worth management mechanism of medicines and the expansion and growth of the National Institute of Pharmaceutical Education and Research (NIPER).

“He has received good expertise in each pharma and well being ministries, which is kind of distinctive. Pant understands the topic rather well and his strategy is problem-solving and sensible.”

Subburaj also believes that Pant is good at handling “crisis situations”. This might be gauged by the truth that Pant — who returned to Jaipur in January 2020 after his deputation interval in Delhi ended — was known as again by the well being ministry in March 2020 in the course of the Covid-19 outbreak.

He was given the place of officer-on-special responsibility (OSD) within the ministry to deal with crucial duties. “While he was known as for a interval of two months on a brief foundation, he was not launched for over 9 months,” stated an official who didn’t want to be named.

Pant is also credited with improving the quality of drugs sold under the Modi government’s flagship Jan Aushadhi scheme. “He made WHO-GMP standards compulsory in 2016 during his tenure as chairman at the governing council of Bureau of Pharma PSUs of India (BPPI) in 2016-17,” stated the official quoted above.

In 2015, the Prime Minister’s Office (PMO) requested the Department of Pharmaceuticals to probe the astronomical value mark-ups on generic medicines. After the nudge, Pant, who was the joint secretary within the division of prescription drugs, was requested to guide the committee and convey a report. He headed the committee, often known as Pant Committee, which made a recommendatory report on commerce margins.

Early profession

In the early years of his profession, Pant labored as a collector and district Justice of the Peace in Jaisalmer, Bhilwara, Jhunjhunu and Jaipur.

From mining, petroleum, housing to electrical energy, pharma and well being, Pant has skilled a variety of assignments within the final three a long time of his profession.

He has labored as chairman of the State Power Transmission Corporation, the State Renewable Energy Corporation and the State Power Distribution Companies.

According to his profile at India-EU Health Conference, he has held the place of secretary on the Mines and Petroleum Department within the authorities of Rajasthan.

Challenges forward

According to well being specialists and trade veterans, one of many largest challenges that Pant must resolve instantly is the standard of medicines manufactured in India.

Starting in October final yr, a number of drug alerts by world well being businesses, together with the World Health Organisation (WHO), Uzbekistan, Gambia, United States of America, Marshall Islands and Micronesia have raised questions over the manufacturing of Indian drug merchandise and created a belief deficit.

“Having served within the Department of Pharmaceuticals after which subsequently within the Ministry of Health, Pant could be very accustomed to the pharma sector. He must work with the brand new Drug Controller General of India (at CDSCO) to make sure there isn’t any room for manufacturing that doesn’t conform to norms,” Malini Aisola, public health expert and co-convener of NGO All India Drug Action Network (AIDAN), said.

According to Dr Chandrakant Lahariya, physician and public health policy specialist, the key challenges for the new health secretary are to get health and wellness centres functioning and ensure that more services for non-communicable diseases are developed. “Health needs more funds and his skills to negotiate with the Ministry of Finance would determine health sector funding.”

Lahariya hopes that Pant’s previous expertise in well being ministry would assist him steer these challenges.

Another long-pending challenge is the readability on e-pharmacies or on-line gross sales of medicine. The new draft of the invoice signifies the central authorities will allow e-pharmacies to function however they might create a licensing mechanism.

“This can be a game-changer,” Aisola said, adding that “e-health platforms have been operating without the need to conform to any health regulations for products (medicines) or services (telemedicine, diagnostics). The details for requirements for licensure would need to be worked out”.