India Launches National Formulary of India 2026 and New Biovigilance Programme
India has launched the 7th edition of the National Formulary of India (NFI) 2026, alongside new initiatives focused on medicine safety, pharmacovigilance and patient safety. The NFI provides...
India has launched the 7th edition of the National Formulary of India (NFI) 2026, alongside new initiatives focused on medicine safety, pharmacovigilance and patient safety.
The NFI provides information intended to support the appropriate use of medicines by healthcare professionals. The latest edition was launched by Anupriya Patel, Union Minister of State for Health and Family Welfare and Chemicals and Fertilizers, earlier this week. ([DD India][2])
The launch also included announcements around a new Biovigilance Programme, reflecting growing attention to monitoring the safety of biological products used in healthcare.
Biological medicines include products such as vaccines, blood products and certain advanced therapies. Because these medicines are produced using biological sources or processes, monitoring their safety is an important part of healthcare regulation.
The broader focus of the initiatives is to strengthen pharmacovigilance, which involves identifying, assessing and preventing adverse effects associated with medicines.
Patient safety has become an increasingly important part of healthcare systems as the number and complexity of medicines and biological therapies continue to grow.
For doctors and other healthcare professionals, updated medicine information can support prescribing and treatment decisions. For regulators, safety-monitoring systems provide mechanisms for identifying potential risks after medicines enter wider use.
The NFI launch therefore goes beyond the publication of another reference document. It forms part of a broader effort to strengthen medicine-related information and safety systems.
The move also comes as India’s healthcare system expands its use of newer medicines and biological products. Better monitoring can help healthcare authorities identify safety signals and respond when additional investigation is required.
For patients, pharmacovigilance is largely an invisible part of healthcare. However, systems that track medicine-related adverse events can contribute to safer use of treatments.
The latest NFI and biovigilance initiatives therefore place medicine information, safety monitoring and patient protection at the centre of India’s pharmaceutical healthcare framework.
![India is facing a complex nutrition challenge, with overweight and obesity increasing while below-normal BMI remains a concern, according to findings from the latest National Family Health Survey, NFHS-6. The findings highlight what researchers and public-health experts describe as a dual burden of malnutrition, where undernutrition and excess weight exist within the same population. A report on the NFHS-6 findings published this week said the decline in below-normal BMI has stalled while overweight and obesity rates continue to rise. ([The Times of India][4]) The development is significant because nutrition problems are no longer limited to one side of the spectrum. Being underweight can be associated with inadequate nutrition and other health challenges, while overweight and obesity are associated with increased risks of several non-communicable diseases. The coexistence of these conditions creates a complicated public-health situation. Changing lifestyles are one factor highlighted in the discussion around rising overweight levels. Increasingly sedentary routines and greater dependence on digital activities can reduce physical activity. At the same time, access to adequate and nutritious food remains uneven across communities. This means India's nutrition challenge cannot be addressed through a single intervention. Public-health strategies need to consider both adequate nutrition and the prevention of unhealthy weight gain. The findings also demonstrate why national health surveys are important. Large-scale surveys help governments and researchers understand how health indicators are changing across populations. For individuals, the figures reinforce the importance of looking beyond weight alone. A person's health is influenced by diet quality, physical activity, sleep, medical conditions and other factors. The dual burden also creates challenges for healthcare systems. Doctors and public-health workers may need to address undernutrition in some populations while simultaneously dealing with increasing rates of overweight and obesity in others. The NFHS-6 findings therefore point towards a more complicated nutrition landscape in India. Instead of treating malnutrition as only a problem of inadequate food, public-health planning increasingly has to account for both nutritional deficiency and excess calorie consumption.](https://xhealth.onextelcommunication.com/wp-content/uploads/2026/09/ChatGPT-Image-Sep-23-2026-06_37_19-PM-450x290.png "India Faces Dual Nutrition Challenge as Overweight and Underweight Persist")
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