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Anand Gupta, Executive Vice President – Speciality Chemicals, Deepak Fertilisers and Petrochemicals Corporation Ltd.
Just when we were hoping to leave behind the memories of the global pandemic that hit us 2 years ago, 2023 has begun in the shadows of fear of fresh Covid cases rising steadily around the world. While India is keeping a close eye and monitoring the global scenario, it is also time for us to re-look at the harsh realities and some serious flaws that came to light during our fight with the virus, and we need to address them at the earliest. From the lack of critical healthcare infrastructure, and inadequate pharma cold supply chains for seamless transportation of medicines and vaccines to loopholes in basic hospital management like ineffective disinfection procedures and lack of awareness about hygiene – both personal and social, are some crucial areas that impacted our readiness to handle the pandemic.
Clinics, laboratories, hospitals, and healthcare centres, need to understand the significance of effective disinfection measures and procedures, applicable not only for highly contagious virulent outbreaks like Covid but also for a range of other infectious diseases. In line with this, they need to reassess their disinfection protocols urgently and proactively and take a more thorough approach to it. One of the most common loopholes observed in Indian hospitals and healthcare facilities, is the use of non-pharma or industrial grade Isopropyl alcohol-based disinfectants, instead of the more effective and accredited Pharma grade IPA based disinfectant.
To put this in perspective, the Indian pharmaceutical sector consumes approximately 170,000 MT of Isopropyl alcohol. Of this, only about 12 – 15 % is pharmacopoeia grade IPA which meets the Indian and International pharmacopoeia standards. The remaining 85 – 88% is non-pharma grade – either technical grade or industrial grade IPA that should ideally enter into the pharma sector at all, leave alone dominate it!
Why is this so important? Currently, Isopropyl alcohol finds major applications in the production of bulk drugs and drug formulations which are vital in the pharma manufacturing process. It is an active ingredient in products such as hand sanitizers, antiseptics, and disinfectants. The non-pharma grade IPA is a comparatively low-grade IPA which fails to meet various critical parameters covered in various pharmacopoeia standards, such as UV Absorbance Test, Benzene & related substance, Non-volatile residue/ substance, Acidity or Alkalinity, etc. The failure to meet these parameters eventually leads to the usage of substandard material which ultimately compromises the quality of the drugs, sanitizers, disinfectants, and associated products.
Furthermore, there are a series of risks in using non-pharma grade IPA, and the hazards it can cause. Some of the key reasons why pharmacopoeia grade IPA needs to be adopted immediately, include:
In line with the above observations, while it is important to drive change, the Indian healthcare and pharma sector have been hesitant to adopt this practice. This is due to several factors, including costs, long term tenders, administrative red-tape or simply a lack of understanding. Many healthcare establishments/ para-medical sectors continue to overlook standard guidelines which is Indian pharmacopoeia grade IPA recommended by CDSCO (central drugs standard control organization) / FDA (food and drug administration) for pharma applications, especially when choosing cheaper or imported excipients, especially solvents. Given the threat of a fresh COVID crisis looming over us once again, it is critical that the Indian health and pharma sectors recognise the urgent need to meet healthcare standards, in order to not only avoid future crisis but to also build a stronger nation consistently with heathier people.
To conclude, it is advisable to procure pharma grade Isopropyl alcohol from approved vendor of licensed drug manufacturer which ensures that pharma grade IPA is manufactured under stringent quality control in accordance with GMP regulations and supplied in hygienic containers.
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Views expressed above are the author's own.
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