[india-drug] Spurious drugs in India

[Sunitha Srinivas <s.srinivas@ru.ac.za>]

Source: 
http://www.pharmabiz.com/article/detnews.asp?articleid=19817&sectionid=
Thanks?..SS)

Concerted efforts and professional approach necessary to check spurious
drugs: experts
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Friday, January 09, 2004 08:00 IST 
P B Jayakumar, Chennai

Concerted efforts of various enforcement agencies with professional
assistance and a correct assessment of the market situation is
necessary to effectively check the spurious drug menace rather than
just imposing capital punishment to the offenders, feels a section of
the pharma industry and trade here. 

Industry circles noted that the government was yet to analyze the
origin, extent of damage and penetration of spurious drugs in the
country and abroad. 

"The whole hype on spurious drug menace in India is based on a
fictitious report quoting WHO stating 35 per cent of spurious drugs
originate from India. DCGI, who admits non-harmonized efforts of drug
control offices in the states is a reason for the spread of spurious
drugs, the extent of spurious drugs in the Indian market could be
anywhere between 0.5 to 30 per cent. This clearly shows the lack of
information. Instead of enacting measures to scientifically analyze,
locate and eliminate the pockets of spurious drugs activity, the
government has come out with capital punishment for the offenders"
notes a senior industry professional. 

According to Dr MD Nair, a member of the Mashelkar Committee, it was
imperative to bring in the help of professional agencies in this
complex issue. "A professional agency should first work out the
methodology, create data and then analyze it for measures on how to
book the culprits, what are the possible preventive steps and most
importantly, awareness creation. The officials should assess the real
situation, extent of penetration of spurious drugs, how the various
agencies could be co-coordinated etc., and then the action plan should
evolve" says Dr Nair. 

Sources noted that apart from the efforts of Julius Ribero, the former
Mumbai and Punjab police commissioner who cracked down a few select
pockets of spurious drug makers as part of an initiative from the
Indian Pharmaceutical Allliance (IPA), and Vijay Karan, the Delhi
commissioner of Police, no significant move has been made in the
country to trace and book the spurious drug manufacturers and traders. 

Sources also note the existing manpower with the drug control
mechanisms and their intelligence network is inadequate to counter the
menace. "Lots of manpower is required in this, and special detection
cells with assistance from various enforcement agencies with elaborate
communication channels are required to keep track of spurious drugs. At
present, most of the officials have knowledge only of licensed
manufacturers. Proper information from various sources are necessary,"
noted an official with the drug control department. 

It is to be noted that the DCGI is in the process of forming detection
cells in various states to monitor the entry and origin of spurious
drugs.



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