What a detail aid must carry in India
A detail aid carries the same five items as any piece that informs a prescribing decision, under UCPMP 2024 Clause 3.2. The Code has no separate list for it. What differs is length. The five items must be an integral part of the piece. The longer the piece, the easier it is to drop one or to let pages contradict each other. Repeating the items on every page is a house standard. The Code does not require it.
In short
- The list is identical to a visual aid's. UCPMP 2024 Clause 3.2 is scoped by purpose. Format has no bearing on it.
- Length is the risk. The five items must be an integral part of the piece. Across many pages it is easier to drop one, or to let pages contradict each other. Clause 1.3 (information must not mislead) guards against that.
- The generic name requirement attaches to the most prominent display of the drug name, wherever that sits.
- Clause 3.2(v) needs a statement that additional information is available on request, and the date the particulars were generated or last updated.
The rule is one clause, and it is about purpose
Clause 3.2 opens with a condition, and the condition is about purpose rather than format. "Where the purpose of the promotional material is to provide persons qualified to prescribe with sufficient information upon which to reach a decision for prescription or for use". If that describes the piece, all five items below apply to it, whatever the piece is called internally.
| Feature | Clause | Basis | What the Code says |
|---|---|---|---|
| Company identification | UCPMP 2024, Clause 3.2(i) | Code (UCPMP 2024) | The relevant drug, the name and address of the holder of authorization for the drug (or the business name and address of the part of the business responsible for placing the drug on the market). Required whether or not the piece is left behind. The manufacturing licence number is a label requirement under the labelling rules of the Drugs and Cosmetics Rules 1945. Clause 3.2 does not require it on promotional material. |
| Generic name | UCPMP 2024, Clause 3.2(ii) | Code (UCPMP 2024) | The name of the drug, along with a list of active ingredients, using the generic name, placed immediately adjacent to the most prominent display of the name of the drug. Adjacency is the requirement. Size is not. The Code sets no relationship between the generic name and the brand name in point size. |
| Dosage and administration | UCPMP 2024, Clause 3.2(iii) | Code (UCPMP 2024) | Recommended dosage, method of use, and where not obvious, its method of administration. |
| Safety information | UCPMP 2024, Clause 3.2(iv) | Code (UCPMP 2024) | Adverse reactions, warnings, precautions for use and relevant contraindications for the use of the product. Read with Clause 1.3, which requires information to be balanced and not misleading. That is where fair balance actually comes from. |
| Availability statement and date | UCPMP 2024, Clause 3.2(v) | Code (UCPMP 2024) | A statement that additional information is available on request, and the date on which the above particulars were generated or last updated. Easy to add and easy to forget. A piece reprinted for years with no date on the particulars does not meet this. |
The Code requires the information to be given 'legibly' and to be 'an integral part of the promotional material'. It sets no point size. Any minimum your team works to, such as 8pt, is an internal MLR standard. It is not a legal threshold. Be clear about that in review, so nobody defends a house rule as though it were law.
Clause 3.2 sets the minimum information. Other clauses of the Code apply too. Clause 3.8 asks for the date of printing or of the last review 'wherever appropriate', for example on technical and other informative material. That date is different from the Clause 3.2(v) date. Clause 3.6 bars the names or photographs of health professionals in promotional material. The general points and the clauses on claims and comparisons, in Sections 1 and 2, also apply.
Why there is no separate detail aid list
Visual aid, detail aid and leave-behind are internal names for pieces used differently. UCPMP 2024 does not use them. Clause 3.2 asks a single question about purpose, and if the answer is yes the same five items apply.
This matters because a page-by-page checklist that differs by material name gives false comfort. The honest position is that the list is the same and the difficulty is consistency across a longer piece.
Where the generic name actually has to sit
Clause 3.2(ii) ties the generic name to "the most prominent display of the name of the drug". On a twelve-page detail aid that is usually the cover lock-up. A piece meets the clause when the list of active ingredients, using the generic name, sits immediately adjacent to the most prominent display of the drug name. Carrying it beside every incidental mention is a house standard, and a defensible one, but not what the Code asks for.
The Drugs and Cosmetics Rules 1945 also matter beyond the label. Their manufacturing licence conditions say no advertisement of Schedule H, H1 or X drugs may be made without previous Central Government sanction (for example Rules 74(p) and 78(q)). Their text sets no audience limit. How they apply to material addressed only to prescribers is a question for your regulatory team.
Frequently asked questions
Does a detail aid have different requirements from a visual aid?
No. UCPMP 2024 Clause 3.2 applies by purpose rather than by format. If the piece exists to give a prescriber information for a prescribing decision, the same five items apply whatever it is called.
Must the generic name appear beside every mention of the brand name?
Clause 3.2(ii) requires it "immediately adjacent to the most prominent display of the name of the drug". Repeating it at every incidental mention is a common house standard, but the Code ties the requirement to the most prominent display.
Where does the Clause 3.2 minimum information have to sit?
Clause 3.2 requires the five items to be 'an integral part of the promotional material'. The Code does not say more than that about separate leaflets. In our reading, a separate leaflet handed over alongside a printed piece does not make the information an integral part of it. Audio-visual material is different. Clause 3.10 requires it to be 'supported by all relevant printed material'.
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