Last Updated on January 9, 2024 by The Health Master
In order to track and trace medications, the Department of Pharmaceuticals (DoP) has instructed pharmaceutical companies to use a quick response (QR) code rather than an SMS code.
This will ensure quality and efficacious medicines reach the consumer and the patient in a timely and cost-effective manner.
The industry says that the SMS code will ensure each strip has a unique code number and a common SMS number.
According to the industry, the number can be SMS-ed for instant authentication via SMS which are enabled even on feature phones.
This will ensure covering all Indians than only the smart phone Indian users.
However, according to DoP Secretary N Yuvaraj, 50% of Indians use smart phones in India, which can support QR codes and bar codes, while the remaining 50% use feature phones, which lack cameras and the internet.
“If you are setting up the infrastructure then go for QR code as it will be better in the long term.”
“The Government of India (GoI) intends to bring in the Central Repository in the near future.”
“The smart phones are over 70 crore and it is now more than feature phones and the growth is very fast, so SMS codes may only help in the short term,” he added.
The Central Government has informed that, beginning August 1, 2023, QR codes will be required on the labels of the top 300 brands of drug formulations, assisting in the identification of fake and spurious drugs.
On November 17, 2022, the Union Ministry of Health and Family Welfare published Gazette Notification No. GSR 823(E) implementing the Drugs (Eighth Amendment) Rules, 2022, which added a new Schedule H2 with a list of 300 top brands and substituted Sub-Rules (6) and (7) for Sub-Rule (5) in Rule 96 of the Drugs and Cosmetics Rules, 1945.
This makes it mandatory for pharmaceutical companies to affix QR code on the pack of top 300 formulations from August 1, 2023.
The unique product identification code, brand name, generic name, name and address of the manufacturer, batch number, date of manufacture, expiration date, and manufacturing license number will all be included in the new gazette notification.
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