Panel suggests introduction of cosmetovigilance

New Delhi: A high-level government committee has recommended introduction of cosmetovigilance to detect adverse effects of cosmetics, issue reaction warnings and monitor sale of such products. While the Central Drugs Standard Control Organisation, India's drug regulatory authority, has both drugs and cosmetics under its purview, there is no platform that defines the activities related to collection, detection, assessment, monitoring and prevention of adverse side-effects of cosmetics. The government is planning an overhaul of the country’s drug regulatory body. Towards this, the committee has recommended introduction of cosmetovigilance, close on the heels of pharmacovigilance which has been set up for adverse events occurring with medications. “It has been recommended to broaden the spectrum of vigilance to include safety of cosmetic products. At present, there is no separate vigilance programme for cosmetics. This will be a separate programme to monitor and address the safety of cosmetic products,” said an official, adding that vigilance over cosmetics is recognised globally as a concept of public health. For this systematic review, there is a need for a vigilance mechanism to be set up in India too,” the official said. The aim is to detect adverse effects of cosmetic products and take appropriate measures to safeguard the public, the official said. The identification and analysis of adverse effects related to use of cosmetic products is a process that is currently mostly industry driven. It is the responsibility of manufacturers to determine that products and ingredients are safe before they are marketed, and then to collect reports of adverse reactions. In November 2018, online retailers had come under the scanner for sales of unregulated and fake cosmetics. An investigation had found that some resellers on their websites were selling illegally imported beauty products. The retailers were served show cause notices for selling cosmetics in contravention to the provisions of the Drugs and Cosmetics Act, 1940. Among the illegally imported products being sold were stem cellbased cosmetics, serums, skin whitening creams, glutathione injections and hyaluronic acid filler injections. "The retailers were found to be selling adulterated and unregulated cosmetics on their websites. The new mechanism will, therefore, help keep a vigil on these practices and take action accordingly,” the official said. Several cosmetics being sold in India contain ingredients that are not permitted for use on humans. On several occasions it has been found that cosmetics are being sold without evaluating their safety and quality. The intelligence cell of the central Drugs Standard Control Organisation identifies such activities. As per the Schedule S to the Drugs and Cosmetics Rules, cosmetics shall conform to the standards laid down by Bureau of Indian Standards and no cosmetic shall contain any ingredient stated in the negative list of BIS. "This mechanism will further make the whole process stringent and adverse events will be checked with immediate attention,” the official said.

from Economic Times https://ift.tt/2EBjQzB