Morung Express News
Dimapur | April 2
Ten of the top 25 drugs sold in India are irrational, non-essential and hazardous says a report. Be warned, the Becosule pill you are pooping is useless.
The India National Commission on Macroeconomics and Health has in a report stated that 10 of the top 25 drugs sold in India are non-essential, and even hazardous in many cases. Sadly, people in India spend their money in purchasing medicines (82%of the pocket expenditure-one of the highest in the world), which are likely not needed. Some of these medicines may be irrationally prescribed.
To reiterate, this is not a problem for India alone – it is a worldwide problem. A finding relating to this issue in a recent publication of WHO is that about 50 per cent of the medicines purchased and used are really wasted as these are neither needed nor used correctly. On the other hand, it has been estimated that one-third of the world’s population lacks access to the most basic medicines.
This figure could rise to 50 per cent in some parts of the world. In rural India, only about 35 per cent of the populations have access to quality medicines that are affordable.
The irrational and unethical practices in the case of medicines certainly contribute significantly to the unavailability and inaccessibility of good quality medicines.
Drug experts warn that the number of irrational combination of drugs has increased in recent years. “Five years ago, it was less than 25. We now have more than 80,” said Chandra Gulhati, editor of MIMS India, a monthly drugs journal.
“India’s drug industry has had dramatic successes,” Gulhati said. Ninety-eight per cent of drugs used in India are manufactured locally, drugs worth $2 billion are exported to over 90 countries and drug prices in India are among the lowest in the world. “But this continued irrational use of drugs is deplorable.”
This is indeed a very formidable challenge in public health. A challenge that may be overcome by a sound strategy, formulated through a multidisciplinary and multi-sectoral approach. Such a strategy must be embedded with the principles and a framework of ethical and rational use of medicines.
