Union Minister Anupriya Patel Launches 7th National Formulary of India and Biovigilance Programme

Union Minister of State for Health and Family Welfare Anupriya Patel launched the 7th Edition of the National Formulary of India (NFI 2026) and announced the approval of a nationwide Biovigilance Programme during the 6th National Pharmacovigilance Week in New Delhi. The annual event, organized by the Indian Pharmacopoeia Commission (IPC) at the Dr. Ambedkar International Centre, was held under the theme "Promoting Rational Use of Medicines through Pharmacovigilance: A Step Towards Safer Healthcare." The newly approved Biovigilance Programme of India will be led by the IPC to monitor adverse events related to organ and tissue transplantations across healthcare facilities. In addition to the physical and digital NFI Online releases, the minister unveiled guidance documents for medical device safety monitoring and launched the updated ADR-PvPI 2.0 mobile application for iOS devices to facilitate real-time adverse drug reaction reporting. Highlighting India's expanding role in global health safety, Patel noted that the country has climbed from 123rd to 8th position in contributions to the World Health Organization's global patient safety database. With around 1,150 Adverse Drug Reaction Monitoring Centres operational nationwide, the government aims to extend this surveillance network down to the primary healthcare level to ensure comprehensive patient protection.