Saturday, Department of Pharmaceuticals of India has announced of a guidelines to be implemented under the name of "Uniform Code of Pharmaceutical Marketing Practices". Under these guidelines, Pharmaceutical Companies have to follow certain marketing policies in which they can't promote their products by providing gifts and travel trips to doctors. They can't convince doctors to prescribe their own brands by providing any mean of compensation or gifts. 

The guidelines will be reviewed after six months in terms of its effectiveness in Pharmaceutical Marketing Practices. If they will not be implemented properly, government will make it a law and force it to follow.

As of now Pharmaceuticals companies are providing pricy gifts and sponsoring foreign trips to promote their products through Doctors. Foreign trips are sponsored by means of Training and Education Purposes. As per new guidelines, such kind of trips should be in within India and company can only sponsor Staying expenses, Meal expenses and Trip expenses. It will not include amenities and leisure activities. Companies have to upload these uniform code of pharmaceutical marketing guidelines on their websites.

Government will announce a committee to solve complains against these guidelines and companies names will be exposed if they don't follow the rules.

If these practices will be implemented, it might help small scale start up companies to promote their quality products also, creates a value for pharmacist in retail stores. ( As retail pharmacist is not getting value in the society read story here. ) Let's hope that, government will succeed in its intentions to provide free competitive environment and create transparent pharmaceutical marketing practices.

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