Union Minister of Health and Family Welfare Jagat Prakash (JP) Nadda has recently launched the Drug Registry as a unified and standardised digital platform for drug-related information. Conceptualised under the Ayushman Bharat Digital Mission (ABDM), it serves as a single source of truth for medicines in India, enabling consistent identification, storage, exchange and usage of drug data across healthcare systems.

ABDM is building a robust digital health ecosystem through 4 core registries: ABHA Registry (for individuals), Healthcare Professional Registry (HPR), Health Facility Registry (HFR) and Drug Registry (for medicines).

The Drug Registry has been developed in collaboration with the Central Drugs Standard Control Organisation (CDSCO) and National Resource Centre for EHR Standards (NRCeS), Pune. It leverages international standards such as SNOMED CT to ensure interoperability and semantic consistency across platforms.

The registry includes standardised drug codes covering generic (clinical drugs), branded medicines, and substances.

Currently, the Drug Registry comprises 123,000+ branded drugs; 10,000+ generic drugs; and 29,000+ substances.

The platform enables users to search and identify drugs using generic name, brand name, substance, and manufacturer.

Built on standardised terminology and aligned with global standards, the Drug Registry ensures accuracy, transparency, and seamless data exchange across healthcare systems.

The Drug Registry is designed to integrate with Hospital Management Information Systems (HMIS), e-prescription platforms, doctor-facing applications, and ABDM-compliant digital health solutions.

It provides open APIs for seamless integration, thereby strengthening interoperability across India’s digital healthcare ecosystem. The registry connects healthcare providers, digital applications, and citizens to a verified and comprehensive drug database.