Fake drugs: Indian state seeks pharma aid

12 August 2001

In the Indian state of Maharashtra, the Food and Drug Administration hasasked the pharmaceutical industry to help it track down manufacturers of counterfeit drugs. Noting that the agency is understaffed, the state's Joint FDA Commissioner, Mr R W Gudal, said it has asked drugmakers to cooperate in this area by utilizing their "extensive field staff," reports The Times Of India.

The request was welcomed by the Indian Drug Manufacturers' Association's president, Mr N Israni, who said the only solution to this "immense" problem was closer cooperation between the industry, the law and the enforcement mechanisms. Companies are "more than willing to collaborate with the FDA, both in their own interest as well as for the benefit of consumers," he said. However, Ajit Dangi, Director General of the Organisation of Pharmaceutical Producers of India, said the only way to curb the trade in fake drugs was for consumers to be more careful. "They should buy only prescribed drugs and demand bills from the chemists," he said.

The World Health Organization has identified India as one of the world's worst offenders for counterfeit drug manufacture, with about 20% of drugs made in the country estimated to be fake, according to the report.

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