The Hindu Business Line : DCGI bans use of vulture-killing drug

There is hope yet for the Asian vulture, with the Drug Controller-General of India (DCGI) sounding the final call on the veterinary use of Diclofenac in the country.

The use of Diclofenac in livestock had pushed the Asian vulture to the brink of extinction, according to experts.

In this backdrop, the DCGI has issued letters to State Drug Controllers asking them to phase out veterinary use of Diclofenac within three months. Pharma industry associations have also been sounded out, a Health Ministry official told Business Line.

In its letter to the State regulatory authorities, the DCGI has said: "Licences granted to manufacture Diclofenac formulations for veterinary use should be withdrawn and the marketing of such formulations to be phased out within a period of three months." Veterinary Diclofenac has been singled out for the spiralling decline of the vulture population in India, Nepal, and Pakistan - which have lost over 95 per cent of the vulture population in the last 10 years, according to Dr Asad Rahmani, Director of the Bombay Natural History Society, a conservation research organisation.

Further, the DCGI has said that alternative safer drugs like Meloxicam should be used for treatment.

The Department of Animal Husbandry has already issued directions to State Veterinary Departments not to purchase Diclofenac for veterinary use.

The domestic veterinary Diclofenac market is estimated to be worth Rs 20 crore, with about 25 players.

Drug companies are not against making the switch from Diclofenac to Meloxicam, said a representative with the animal healthcare industry. Pharma companies are waiting for a formal directive from the Government to stop production, he added.

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