Peers, coworkers, and past employers characterize Sudhansh Pant, the next Union health secretary, as astute, bright, industrious, and a problem solver.
Pant is the first health secretary to have technical understanding of medications and the pharmaceutical business because to his time spent in the Department of Pharmaceuticals.
Rajesh Bhushan was fired from his position as health secretary in June, and Rajasthan cadre IAS officer Pant was chosen the new secretary in a bureaucratic shift by the federal government.
Pant graduated from the Indian Institute of Technology in Kharagpur with a degree in engineering, and he entered the Indian Administrative Service (IAS) in 1991.
Experts predict that the period ahead for the next Union health secretary might be particularly difficult given that general elections are less than a year away.
Protecting India’s status as the “pharmacy to the world” by dealing with the problem of poor-quality and subpar medicines is one of his key priorities. Pant is also anticipated to restructure Central Drugs Standard Control Organization (CDSCO), the nation’s top health regulatory body.
In addition to a number of other concerns, such as maintaining the momentum and emphasis on healthcare in the post-Covid world, preparing India for the next pandemic, and advancing research and innovation in healthcare, the lingering issue of e-pharmacies is also waiting for regulatory clarification.
Meeting the target date of 2025 for the eradication of TB, which is five years earlier than the worldwide target date set by Prime Minister Narendra Modi, is another crucial concern. Pant may also need to review the status of benchmarks set by India’s National Health Policy, which was published more than six years ago but is now behind.
WHY ARE PANT THE BEST OPTION?
According to Dr. VK Subburaj, a former secretary of the department of pharmaceuticals, Pant is the perfect official to fill the role of secretary of health.
During his time as joint secretary under Subburaj in 2015–16, Pant worked on a number of crucial topics, such as the National Institute of Pharmaceutical Education and Research’s (NIPER) development and expansion.
He has solid experience working for both the health and pharmaceutical ministries, which is pretty unusual. Pant has excellent topic knowledge, and his method is practical and problem-solving.
Pant, in the opinion of Subburaj, is adept at managing “crisis situations.” This can be shown by the fact that the health ministry summoned Pant back in March 2020 during the Covid-19 epidemic after he had returned to Jaipur in January 2020 after his deputation stint in Delhi had finished.
To manage important responsibilities, he was granted the title of officer-on-special-duty (OSD) in the ministry. According to an official who wished to remain unnamed, “He was called for a period of two months on a temporary basis, but he was not released for over nine months.”
Pant is also recognized with raising the quality of medications supplied under the Modi administration’s premier Jan Aushadhi program. According to the source cited above, “He made WHO-GMP standards mandatory in 2016 during his tenure as chairman at the governing council of Bureau of Pharma PSUs of India (BPPI) in 2016–17.”
The Department of Pharmaceuticals was requested by the Prime Minister’s Office (PMO) in 2015 to investigate the outrageous price increases on generic medications. Following the prod, Pant, who was the department of medicines’ joint secretary, was requested to serve as the committee’s chair and deliver a report. He served as the chair of the Pant Committee, which produced a report on trade margins with recommendations.
INITIAL CAREER
In the beginning of his career, Pant held positions in Jaisalmer, Bhilwara, Jhunjhunu, and Jaipur as a collector and district magistrate.
In the previous three decades of his career, Pant has worked on a broad variety of tasks in industries such as mining, petroleum, housing, energy, pharma, and health.
The State Power Transmission Corporation, the State Renewable Energy Corporation, and the State Power Distribution Companies all had him on their boards of directors.
He has held the post of secretary at the Mines and Petroleum Department in the government of Rajasthan, according to his biography at the India-EU Health Conference.
CHALLENGES TO COME
The quality of pharmaceuticals made in India is one of the main issues that Pant has to address right now, according to health experts and industry veterans.
Since October of last year, there have been a number of medication warnings from international health organizations, including the World Health Organization (WHO), Uzbekistan, Gambia, the United States of America, Marshall Islands, and Micronesia, which have cast doubt on the production of Indian pharmaceutical items and bred mistrust.
Pant is well acquainted with the pharmaceutical industry since he formerly worked at the Department of Pharmaceuticals and the Ministry of Health. To guarantee that there is no place for production that does not adhere to standards, he would have to collaborate with the new Drug Controller General of India (at CDSCO), according to Malini Aisola, a public health specialist and co-convener of the NGO All India Drug Action Network (AIDAN).
The main issues facing the new health secretary are to get health and wellness centers up and running and to make sure that additional services for non-communicable illnesses are established, according to Dr. Chandrakant Lahariya, a physician and expert in public health policy. His ability to bargain with the Ministry of Finance will decide how much money the health sector receives.
Lahariya expects that Pant’s prior work in the health ministry will aid him in navigating such difficulties.
Clarity about e-pharmacies, or the selling of pharmaceuticals online, is another long-overdue problem. According to the updated draft of the legislation, the federal government would allow e-pharmacies to function but they may set up a licensing system.
According to Aisola, “e-health platforms have been operating without the need to comply with any health regulations for products (medicines) or services (telemedicine, diagnostics),” therefore “this will be a game-changer.” The specifics of the licensing criteria would need to be worked out.
The regulation of the Uniform rule of Pharmaceutical Marketing Practices (UCPMP), a voluntary rule published by the government to limit gifts to healthcare workers, including physicians, presents another challenging challenge for the health ministry. Pant contributed to the creation of the order governing marketing and promotion, but the law ministry did not approve it.
Lahariya further noted that most of the goals set out in India’s national health strategy had not been met after more than six years. It’s time for everyone to send him their best wishes, he said.
