The Indian pharmaceutical industry in the recent years has grown tremendously and made a remarkable impression in the global market. With brilliant research, path-breaking innovation and development India became the ‘Pharmacy to the World’, it retained and strengthened this position during the COVID pandemic as well. During the pandemic India showcased its immense potential by delivering good quality affordable drugs and vaccines to other countries in times of dire need which was instrumental in saving precious lives.
While the Indian pharmaceutical industry's progress has been steady and impressive, there have been incidents that have unearthed the discouraging realities of significant circulation of spurious and sub-standard drugs in the ecosystem. This underbelly of illicit and counterfeit pharmaceutical products undermines the progress of legit pharmaceutical industry and tarnishes the credibility of India as the ‘Pharmacy to the World’.
International incidents such as the recent cough syrup tragedy which was linked with the death of over 60 children in Gambia which was linked back to Indian pharmaceutical brands raise serious questions on the safety and quality of drugs produced in India. This drastically weakens the country’s position on the global healthcare landscape. Unfortunately, this is just one of the huge number of incidents that surface globally and in India every year.
A recent survey that we conducted unveiled that consumer perception pegged the extent of counterfeiting at 25-30% of the market, higher than the general industry expectations. Counterfeiting in pharmaceutical, automotive, and consumer durables sectors is almost 20-25%.
The survey also reveals that almost 89% of consumers acknowledge the presence of fake products in the market. These alarming figures show how much this problem needs attention and how late we are in taking corrective action.
Speaking at an International conference on pharma and medical device sector, Union Health Minister Shri Mansukh Mandaviya said “If India wants to continue being the pharmacy of the world there can be no laxity on the quality of pharmaceutical products”.
This shows that the Government of India is focusing on what is required for strengthening and retaining the country’s position as the ‘Pharmacy to the World’. This shows the government recognises that along with encouraging research, innovation and development in the pharmaceutical and medical device industry it is also important to concentrate on the security of authentic drugs.
While some small steps have been taken to counter counterfeiting in pharmaceuticals and medical devices such as mandatory use of QR Codes by API (Active Pharmaceutical Ingredients) manufacturers and implementation of QR Code or Bar Code on packaging of top 300 drug formulations, to ensure safety of these products and securing the supply chain against pilferage. Still we need to ask if this is enough to fight a problem so critical and deep rooted.
If India wants to retain its position as the ‘Pharmacy of the World’ then there is a dire need for implementation of a national mandate to protect pharmaceutical products and secure the supply chain, which unfortunately is still missing from the whole dialogue. Mandating implementation of tamper proof packaging, phygital (physical plus digital) anti-counterfeiting solutions, robust track and trace system, authentication solutions and widespread awareness regarding these measures across all stakeholders has to be mainstreamed to make the ecosystem secure against spurious and sub-standard drugs.
Criminals are smart and using technology to produce copycat ineffective or harmful products. The counter strategy needs to be smarter to beat them. Every stakeholder has a significant role to play. The government can guide the whole ecosystem towards the transformation by implementing mandates that could plug in loopholes and make the ecosystem less vulnerable to criminal activities. Responsible pharmaceutical brands make huge investments into developing good quality products and they need to take the responsibility of also investing into solutions which would protect the product.
Power needs to be put in the hands of doctors, nursing staff, pharmacists, patients and other stakeholders so that they know their rights. They should be actively included in the authentication cycle by making them aware about the measures which are being used to ensure safety of patients from the threat of ineffective or harmful spurious and sub-standard drugs.
Mr. Nakul Pasricha, President of Authentication Solution Provider’s Association (ASPA)
