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QR code could curb circulation of fake, spurious and substandard medicines

July 2, 2022

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Last Updated on July 3, 2022 by The Health Master

Indian pharma continues to be one of the key targets for unlawful activities as the sale of counterfeit medicines prevails even as the industry is totally compliant with good production and distribution practices.

The Union government’s mandate to implement QR codes on packages of the top 300 brands could curb the circulation of fake, spurious, and substandard pharmaceutical products, pointed out Nakul Pasricha, president of the Authentication Solution Providers’ Association (ASPA).

From May 2023, the top 300 brands holding a market share of 35% or more for lifesaving drugs have been directed to display a QR code on their packaging.

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A Gazetted notification has been issued to this effect. Widely used analgesics, pain relievers, anti-platelet, vitamin supplements, blood-sugar medicine, and contraceptive brands have been shortlisted by India’s Drug Pricing Authority to implement QR codes.

Popularly used drugs such as Dolo, Saridon Fabiflu, Ecosprin, Limcee, Sumo, Corex syrup, Calpol, etc have been included under this, he added.

The implementation would discourage criminals from manufacturing and selling falsified products and create awareness among healthcare professionals, nursing staff, pharmacists, and consumers about the need to check the authenticity of the medicine(s) they are purchasing.

It would spark a positive buying behavior among consumers making them less vulnerable to getting duped into buying spurious medicines, he noted.

We see this draft notification as a step in the right direction to protect medicine distribution in India. For the present, the notification calls for a unique product identifier, which can be taken to mean a code identifying the particular SKU (stock keeping unit).

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In order to protect against counterfeiting, it is essential that each saleable unit of the drug in question has its own unique code.

This can easily be generated and embedded in the QR code and make the product more secure. Hence we see the need for the regulation to be amended to include this unique code, Pasricha told.

The presence of a considerable number of spurious, sub-standard, falsified, and fake medicines threatens human health and well-being.

To make things worse, the Covid pandemic was also exploited by disreputable people to sell counterfeit medicines.

While strict regulations have adhered to medicine exports, the challenge has been to tackle the sale of counterfeits in the domestic market.

Some guidelines have been issued from time to time, but lack a clear mandate from the government.

There is a need to handle the situation which threatens the right of people to get good quality medicine. Moreover, counterfeit medicines have a cascading effect on loss of revenue to the government, damaging profits of brands and eroding people’s trust people in the healthcare ecosystem.

India makes a huge mark globally and is recognized as the pharmacy of the world. The Pharma industry has proved its capability to manufacture high-quality medicines, vaccines, and related consumables not just for the national market but for the world.

Unfortunately, alongside the booming pharma and healthcare opportunity, the problem of spurious and falsified medicines is also continuously growing.

Indian pharma is a key target for counterfeit medicines now sees QR codes could curb its circulation, said Pasricha.

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