Wednesday, June 8 2005 14:34 Hrs (IST) - World Time -

Washington: The United States has assured visiting Health and Family Welfare Minister Ambumani Ramadoss that it would give all possible help needed to enable Indian drugs reach it's Food and Drug Administration (FDA) standards, which are a must for them to be sold in that country.

The assurance was given by Secretary of Health and Human Services Mike Leavitt and acting FDA Commissioner Dr Lester M Crawford, Ramadoss told reporters in Washington yesterday (Jun 7, 2005).

"FDA has promised to help set American standards in a host of fields, including the drug industry, cosmetics, medical equipment, medical diagnostics and so on," the Minister said.

"India is going to have a separate National Drug Authority," he said, giving his reasons for meeting the FDA chief.

Ramadoss said the authority would be "independent like the Telecom Authority, regulating the industry to make it more quality-oriented", adding that India had the fourth-largest pharmaceutical industry in the world.

"The Government of India is also taking special steps to develop Ayurvedic and other indigenous medicines and testing them according to international testing methods so that eventually they could capture a trillion Dollar market abroad," the Minister said.

He pointed out that the US National Institute of Health had 80 ongoing projects in India.

Ramadoss will next go to Atlanta for meetings at the Centre for Disease Control (CDC) and will also visit California Stem Cell Research Center and meet Nobel Laureate Michael Bishop.

His visit to the CDC is aimed at understanding how the US conducts surveillance, he said, adding, "We will have some more concrete proposals for an India-US agreement" in this area.

"There is already a lot of collaboration with the US in various medical fields. This will now be expanded," the Minister said.

Ramadoss, who addressed an AIDS seminar at the Centre for Strategic and International Studies in Washington, India was now the "diabetic capital of the world".

"As old diseases are being conquered or controlled, new ones, including cardiovascular ones surface," he said. "We are on track," he said referring to elimination of leprosy from India.

He pointed to the rural health programme launched by the United Progressive Alliance (UPA) Government. "The programme, a seven-year one, is the biggest in the last 50," Ramadoss said, adding that the Government is also working on a pilot project of establishing shock and trauma centres along highways.

"The pilot project will be followed by a shock and truma centre every 100 kms".