Government to launch track and trace mechanism for medicines | Fusion - WeRIndia

Several medicines are coming into the market each day, while some of them are spurious and substandard drugs. It is difficult to find out whether the medicine you are consuming is real or fake.

In this context, the government decided to launch a track and trace mechanism to prevent the entry of counterfeit drugs. Besides, the government will also launch a portal for the customers to check the authenticity of drugs by feeding their unique ID.

People can check the authenticity of the drugs using QR codes as part of this mechanism. The move also helps control the spreading of fake drugs in the market. At the same time, it leads to an increase in costs by 3-4 percent.

The National Pharmaceutical Pricing Authority (NPPA) identified the most widely used medicines in the country. The list included the top 300 medicines, including painkillers, vitamins, contraceptives, and medicines for diabetes and hypertension.

As per sources, QR codes will be printed on primary packaging or first-level packaging labels. They include strip, bottle, jar, can etc. In the beginning, the QR codes will be printed on 300 drugs, which are the top-selling medicines.

Furthermore, medicines with a cost exceeding ₹100 per strip will be included in the first phase. Later, it may be extended to other medical products also.

As per the World Health Organisation (WHO), around 10 per cent of medicines and related products prevalent in low and middle-income countries are substandard.

Recently, counterfeit drugs for blood pressure were found on the market. These drugs appear like the medicines of a popular pharma company. In another incident, some medicines of another famous pharma company were found to be substandard drugs.

Hence, the government decided to launch a track and trace mechanism to check the authenticity of the drugs.

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Image Reference: https://pxhere.com/en/photo/931638