New Delhi, Aug 27 - Minister of State for Health Dinesh Trivedi Thursday called for taking 'a serious look' at the intellectual property rights regime so that Indian patients are not adversely affected.

'It is time to take a hard look at the intellectual property rights (IPR), innovation, development of new drugs, affordability and accessibility from an entirely new perspective in the new era of the product patent regime,' Trivedi said at the Life Science Conclave here.

The minister expressed concern that 'while there is a substantial unfinished agenda on health in terms of providing adequate health care in the developing countries, new and formidable challenges have been thrown up by international trade regimes.'

He said the central government spends nearly 0.4 percent of GDP on health and in collaboration with state governments, the healthcare expenditure is little above one percent of the GDP.