By Dr Arvind Kumar
India’s pharmaceutical market is worth $25 billion a year. According to broad estimates, every second child vaccinated in the world uses a vaccine made in India, and that 45% of India’s pharmaceutical production is exported to more than 200 countries. However, the proliferation of fake drugs is one of the greatest dangers facing India today. Fake drugs not only threaten lives, they also discourage patients from using life-saving innovations and deter much-needed pharmaceutical investment.
However, the “Report on Countrywide Survey For Spurious Drugs” released by the Central Drugs Standard Control Organization (CDSCO) in July this year has come out with findings that of 24,136 samples, 11 or 0.045%, were fake. Experts feel that there is something wrong with this report. Previous research reports have reported fake drug rates ranging from 3% to 35%. Past media reports show Delhi’s Bhagirath Palace and certain markets in Agra and Aligarh as major locations of the fake drugs trade.
A Pew poll last month found that 54% of Americans distrust drugs made in India. The Government should remonitor the growing fake drug industry and nip this eveil in the bud. Otherwise it is likely to adversely impact upon the parmaceutical industy as a whole, including exports.
