Reclining on a rainy evening recently and watching news on the idiot box, my eyes went to an important issue of today. The news channel was telecasting some useless crap but on the bottom tabs came one of the most unacceptable fact about our India-counterfeit drugs. Counterfeit drugs, by definition, are drugs or medication which is produced and sold with the intent to deceptively represent its origin, authenticity or effectiveness. But its effects are far reaching throughout the world. Firstly, let me tell you how big this problem has actually spread. According to recent estimates by f.d.a (food and drug administration), around 10 % of the total drugs found all over the world are fake. In developing countries like India, this figure goes up to 25%. In the African continent about 50 % of the drugs are counterfeit. If you go to a chemist nearby and ask for an aspirin, the chances of it being of a substandard or fake is 1 in every 4. People have to take these medicines, irrespective of being rich or poor, because these are hard to trace and almost 11 states in India do not even have the necessary labs to test them. These medicines are very cheap to produce and some may even contain carcinogenic substances.
India is known as the hub of counterfeit drugs. The reason- India not only produces them but also exports them!!! In India many small and big companies have sprung up in the field of pharmacy. Chemists are available now in every nook and corner. People have access to drugs. In short, this economy is booming. The pharmaceutical trade is a lucrative business in India. Many wholesalers, distributors and retailers, who have insufficient professional knowledge, are running these businesses. The problem is further aggravated by the weaker enforcement regulations and the lack of competent and committed regulatory personnel. There could be gaps in the medicine trade cycle- from the manufacturer to wholesalers, distributors and retailers and then to end users, which give the way to slip in, or to proliferate, counterfeit medicines. Prices of drugs are reaching the skies. Counterfeiting drugs provide a huge profit margin. Companies, who have to discard expired drugs, repack them and bring it again in the market, making enormous profit. So the next time you take pills and being satisfied that the stuff is not expired, don’t be so sure. Even some really big and fast moving companies are in this business. India exports drugs to Africa and other third world countries on a large scale but sadly most of the exporting companies are accused of selling counterfeit drugs. The companies selling these have a strong political lobby, being the reason for being Scot –free. But here we are dealing with millions of people and I personally don’t think any amount of power can replace these lives.
Approximately one-third to one-half of packets of artesunate tablets, the pivotal, life-saving anti-malarial drug, recently bought in Southeast Asia were fakes, containing no active ingredient at all. A nongovernmental organization in a Southeast Asian country bought 100,000 inexpensive “artesunate” tablets only to find that they were counterfeit. Let me tell you a major incident. A total of 192,000 Chinese patients are reported to have died in 2001 from fake drugs, and in the same year Chinese authorities “closed 1,300 factories while investigating 480,000 cases of counterfeit drugs worth 57 million USD”. In 2004, Chinese authorities arrested 22 manufacturers of grossly substandard infant milk powder and closed three factories after the death of over 50 infants. In Haiti, Nigeria, Bangladesh, India, and Argentina, more than 500 patients, predominantly children, are known to have died from the use of the toxin diethylene glycol in the manufacture of fake paracetamol syrup. In 2003, India started death penalties for people peddling fake drugs, but we all know how few are actually convicted. Plus the punishment for exporting fake drugs in mild. This means you can export fake drugs and kill people in Africa but don’t kill our own people!!! Investigations sponsored by pharmaceutical companies in the past have revealed counterfeit drugs containing chalk powder. The industry suspects drug regulatory officials are often in collusion with manufacturers of fake medicines. "The makers and distributors of fake drugs get tipped off just before raids, and all evidence vanishes," said Ranjit Shahani, president of the Organisation of Pharmaceuticals Producers of India and chairman of Novartis, India.

The health ministry needs to empower its enforcement agencies for proper vigilance. All the government activities relating to counterfeit medicines should be published on a website or newspapers. Another important tool to counter this hazard is to establish more Drug Testing Laboratories .The lab structure should be renewed with increased emphasis on training personnel. These labs should also be equipped with state of the art facilities. The responsibility to tackle this problem does not only lie with the government. All companies must be involved and should join forces against this menace. The pharmaceutical industry should come up with innovative plans related to consumer health; it will help to build up their reputation as a responsible industry. Close monitoring of the drug distribution channels are needed and various law enforcing agencies can play a pivotal role. Stricter penalties and laws must be imposed on those who are convicted. All the data about sale or purchase of the drugs must be properly monitored and the drug supply chain must be transparent. Chemist and druggist associations in India claim to play an important role in the medicine trade, their roles must be redefined and the activities must be streamlined and regulated. Regulatory authorities could also enforce anticounterfeit techniques. Some of these techniques are holograms, color shifting inks, and watermarks. A hologram is a security label with having a unique serial number, which verifies that the product has been registered with the country’s drug control authority. Radio frequency identification tags (RFID) can also be used as a measure to stop counterfeiting. This technology uses tiny microchip capable of storing and transmitting information.

I cannot claim all this statistics are true but they are taken from reliable sources. But I can surely claim this problem gripping India is true and needs to be fought. This can affect everyone- Haves and have-nots, rich and poor, urban or rural population, intellectuals or idiots. After all, everyone has to fall sick someday……