Regulatory Standards on Homoeopathic Drugs: Indian Perspective

Abstract

The Pharmacopoeia is the official compendium of a country related to regulatory standards of drugs manufactured and practiced in the political zone of that country. The pharmacopoeial standards are experimentally established and work as yardstick to ensure the quality safety and efficacy of a drug. These are approved standards and vetted by duly constituted bodies to incorporate in a pharmacopoeia. In broad term, the pharmacopoeia is a book of standards applicable to drug substance and their dosage forms of common usage in a country. Pharmacopoeia is prepared by recognized authority appointed by the Government of a particular country with a few exceptions eg.  USP. In India, Homoeopathic System of Medicines has its own pharmacopoeia titled as Homoeopathic Pharmacopoeia of India (HPI). So far, nine volumes of HPI are published from 1971 to 2006 which covers total 919 monographs of Homoeopathic single drugs.