Last Updated on August 28, 2025 by The Health Master
SHRESTH
A landmark step has recently been initiated by the Union Health Ministry of India to ensure safe and effective medicines. The Union Health Ministry has launched a new ranking index called SHRESTH to standardize drug regulatory efforts among all drug administrations across India.
For the first time, a national ranking exercise has been crafted to gauge drug regulatory agencies. Therefore, this is a step in the right direction for the quality of every single medicine made in India.
SHRESTH: The New Frontier in medicine Assessment
But what is SHRESTH? It stands for State Health Regulatory Excellence Index.
In essence, it is an index that acts as a report card for state drug regulators.
The initiative stems from India’s drug regulatory body known as the Central Drugs Standard Control Organization (CDSCO).
The aim is to incite competition for better performance, which leads to better quality medicines for citizens.
According to Union Health Secretary Punya Salila Srivastava, such a cohesive structure is necessary for a diverse country like India to ensure that Indian-made medicines are accepted across the world.
Therefore, states need to know how they perform relative to their peers for growth opportunities, and this announcement provides just that.
How SHRESTH Will Be Assessed
For states that are substantial manufacturers of medicines, the criteria differ from those that just serve as distribution centers.
For Manufacturing States:
27 parameters will be assessed across 5 entities.
- Human Resources: Adequate people with training?
- Infrastructure: Enough labs/facilities?
- Licensing Activities: Quick licensing to manufacturers?
- Surveillance Activities: Fast market oversight for subpar drugs?
- Responsiveness: Quick response to complaints?
For Primary Distribution States/UTs:
23 applicable parameters.
Eventually states will have to submit their data to the CDSCO in periodic increments, which will score and declare results.
Such benchmarking will bring transparency to what works and what needs improvement.
Setting a Standard for India
The need for an assessment across the nation did not arrive without international factors as well.
In addition, at the global level, the World Health Organization (WHO) has national drug regulatory assessments.
This is done through something known as the Global Benchmarking Tool (GBT) that pivots assessments on strengths and weaknesses with future actionable plans.
India’s central drug regulatory authority, the CDSCO, has been doing well internationally.
For example, in the year 2024, they got maturity level 3 (out of 4) for vaccines, which shows competence and sustainability.
It’s time to get the rest of the system in order to achieve that level.
Q: What is the primary intent of the SHRESTH index?
A: To benchmark performance and improve performance of state drug regulatory systems across India in order to ensure consistent quality safety and efficacy of drugs.
Q: What are the five themes for manufacturing states under SHRESTH?
A: Human Resources, Infrastructure, Licensing Activities, Surveillance Activities, Responsiveness.
Disclaimer: This article contains information obtained from the source mentioned below. Our team made changes in the format to rewrite and present the news or article in a unique format.
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