Mobile Drug Testing Labs To Be Launched In India To Check For Fake Medicines

The Indian government has decided to strengthen its regulatory mechanism to prevent the sale of fake medicines in the country.

The health ministry will soon introduce mobile drug testing laboratories for surprise checks of medicines available in the market.

Fighting Fake Medicines
Counterfeit and poor quality medicines are to be condemned and public health issues, and not intellectual property or trade issues, should be the prime consideration in fighting fake medicines.

The drug regulator, Drugs Controller General of India (DCGI), is working with institutions like Indian Institute of Technology and international regulatory agencies like the US Food and Drug Administration (USFDA) and China’s FDA to understand the feasibility of the project.

"We have discussed the proposal with the ministry. We are currently talking to various international regulators to understand the mechanism as it works in these countries. We are also talking to institutes here to get technology," DCGI GN Singh said.

The project has been already implemented in Gujarat and has received good reviews. The Central government plans to introduce such mobile drug testing laboratories across the country. However, it will be done in phases, said Singh.

Experts Ask World Governments to Improve Laws to Tackle Fake Medicines
Health experts in the United States have urged their government as well as other countries to close down the loopholes that encourage medical products to be falsified.

In the first phase, the project will be launched in three states - Uttar Pradesh, Jammu and Kashmir and Himachal Pradesh, by the end of this year.

The mobile drug testing laboratories will carry equipment for primary testing of samples and conduct surprise inspections.

India Rejects Reports That It is Sending Fake Medicines to Africa
The Indian government has dismissed a report published by the Guardian newspaper in Britain, which claims that India is sending fake medicines to Africa.

It is difficult for regulatory agencies to keep track of products that are sold in the market, especially in the rural areas. Though regulatory agencies collect samples for testing at regular intervals, the massive size of these samples takes a lot of time and resources.

The mobile drug testing laboratories will enable drug inspectors to separate fake and counterfeit medicines at the factory. Only the drug samples which are suspected to be lacking quality will be brought for further verification.

Internet Blamed For Global 'Explosion' of Fake Medicines
Pharmaceutical experts warned that the rapid growth of Internet commerce has led to an explosion of counterfeit drugs being sold worldwide.

Source-Medindia