What can we do about spurious drugs ?

I want to focus on the menace of spurious drugs in India. There are many angles to this problem. I want to discuss them one by one. I think, as intellectuals belonging to the field of medicines, we have a responsibility to help the world by being a think tank on issues such as the manufacture of spurious drugs in India. 

I.Brands in antibiotics, analgesics and anti-diarrheals are the preferred target segments by the fake manufacturers.

 So what can we do about it?

1. When we are purchasing these medicines we can be extra cautious.

2. We can draw the attention of the doctors and the public to this fact.

3. The manufacturers must start putting a mark on the pack which cannot be imitated. 

II. The main facilitator of the sale of spurious drugs anywhere in the world is the pharmaceutical trade. Without the support of the people running the retail pharmacies, no spurious drug can reach the ultimate consumer, the patient. The owners of retail chemists have the attraction of a huge trade margin when they knowingly take stock of a fake product of an established brand. If the problem can be tackled at this point, the menace ends then and there.

What can we do about it?

1. We can take up awareness campaigns on behalf of Pharmaceutical associations and educate the traders regarding the utter baseness that is involved in the crime.

2. We can associate with the consumer organizations and prepare materials and run slides in theaters and do such things.

 I think it is absolutely essential to wake up to this menace; pharmacy people must play a role here; it is not someone else's bell that is ringing; it is our very own bell in our own backyard; let us stand up and do something about it.