Government Watch

Directorate General of Drug Administration

department

verified

Source: BDPolicyLab Watch record and cited public sourcesAs of 2026-07-05

Verified facts

Source-provided fields for this institution. Missing fields remain unavailable.

Head: Md Alamgir Hossain
Role: Director General
Annual budget: n/a
Staff: n/a
Established: 1976
Legal basis: Drugs and Cosmetics Act 2023 (Act No. 29 of 18 September 2023), which merged and replaced The Drugs Act 1940 and The Drugs (Control) Ordinance 1982. DGDA established as a separate directorate under the Ministry of Health and Family Welfare in 1976; upgraded to Directorate General on 17 January 2010.

The DGDA is currently focused on balancing the enforcement of the Drugs and Cosmetics Act 2023 with the modernization of its regulatory infrastructure to achieve WHO maturity level 3.

Recent activity

Dated activity retained in the order supplied by the tracker.

2026-06-09regulation
DGDA issued a notification revising and reducing the maximum retail prices for various cardiac stents.
source
2026-06-17regulation
DGDA issued a notice prohibiting the advertisement and promotion of medicines on social media without prior approval.
source
2026-06-17procurement
DGDA published an international invitation for tender for the Strengthening Regulatory System for Vaccines, Diagnostics and Therapeutics project.
source
2026-07-01appointment
The government reconstituted the 24-member National Drug Advisory Council to advise on drug policy and industry development.

Established year 1976: confirmed by DGDA Info page (dgdagov.info) and Wikipedia -- 1976 is when Drug Administration was recognized as a separate directorate under MoHFW; upgraded to Directorate General on 17 January 2010. Legal basis: Drugs and Cosmetics Act 2023 (Act No. 29, 18 September 2023) replaced both the Drugs Act 1940 and Drugs (Control) Ordinance 1982; confirmed by VDB Loi and DGDA laws page. Parent confirmed as Health Services Division per MoHFW bifurcation order of March 2017 (HSD oversees curative services including DGDA). Current head Md Alamgir Hossain: gazette notification 28 April 2026, confirmed by both TBS News and BSS News; predecessor Maj Gen Md Shamim Haider served since 22 October 2024 (Wikipedia DGDA article). Drug Pricing Method 2026 and 295-item essential medicines list: confirmed independently by TBS News, Dhaka Tribune, BSS News, and Dhaka Law Review. 25% essential-drug threshold: confirmed by TBS News and JustNews BD. TRIPS waiver expiry and registration backlog: confirmed by TBS News, The Daily Star, and BSS News. Pharmaceutical export figure USD 213 million for FY2024-25: from PharmaBossBD citing EPB data. Staff count and standalone DGDA budget not publicly available in any identified primary source. Annual_budget_bdt left null accordingly.

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