Antibiotics, male impotence pills and painkillers are the most counterfeited drugs in India

The latest report by the Authentication Solution Providers' Association reveals...

...that substandard and falsified (SF) medical products noted an increase of 47 percent from 2020 to 2021.

This increase in the number was majorly observed during the COVID-19 peak, in 23 states out of 29 in India.

The noticed incidents were related to COVID-19 related medical products like...

...vaccines, medicines, COVID test kits, antibiotics, face masks, and sanitisers.

The report further highlighted that the incidents of counterfeiting in India have ...

...risen by 20 percent from January 2018 to December 2020.

Globally, over 200 quality incidents involving alcohol-based hand sanitisers...

...were reported in 2020, says the report.

Most counterfeited products

According to the report, antibiotics were the most counterfeited product with 35.4 percent in the share of the global value of seizures of fake pharmaceuticals, followed by male impotence pills (15.6 percent) and painkillers (10.4 percent).

From January to December 2020,39 instances of substandard hand sanitisers containing 9 methanol were reported.

There were also reports of substandard personal protective equipment (PPE) kits, including N95 masks, being supplied to frontline hospital workers.

SF products are a major threat

SF medicines are one of the reasons for up to 1,16,000 malaria deaths annually in 7 sub-Saharan Africa alone, further reveals the report.

SF products’ impact is beyond economic losses

Counterfeiting/SF harms all stakeholders. While the drug manufacturers’ brand integrity and sales are always at risk, there are issues with product recalls and liability clauses. Beyond economic losses, it is affecting almost all countries and humans in terms of health as well.