The Tamil Nadu Drugs Control Department will be organizing a mass awareness programme through the newly formed NPPA-CIFG against unhealthy practices in pharmaceutical sector such as marketing of spurious drugs and overpricing. According to a senior official from the state drug administration, who is also involved in the CIFG, said that such mass campaign would enhance the consumer vigil against unhealthy practices prevailing in this sector.

For the smooth and result oriented functioning of the CIFG, the drug administration will co-ordinate with the Citizen Consumer and Civic Action Group (CAG), the NGO identified to conduct the functioning of the redressal centre. Some of the officials in the health department are of the view that there are not such large quantum of spurious drugs in the market as being made out by the media.

The Union minister of state for Fertilizers and Chemicals D K Handique, while speaking at a seminar in Chennai last week said there were varying estimates about the prevalence of spurious drugs in the Indian market. While a government-initiated survey estimate put the prevalence at about 0.5 per cent, an assessment made by another organisation put it at about 30 per cent. The global average of spurious drugs is at around seven per cent.

Senior officials in the drug administration, therefore, feel that some of these estimates are highly exaggerated and possibly fabricated by certain vested interested groups with no supporting documents to establish the accuracy.

While speaking to Pharmabiz about the issue of spurious and counterfeit drugs, a retired official from the state drug control department said, "Counterfeiting of drugs is rampant in both in developed and developing countries. In developed countries, counterfeiting most frequently affects 'lifestyle drugs' such as hormones, steroids, erectile dysfunction drugs and anti-allergy medicines."

Whereas, commenting that "counterfeiting is an underworld activity", WHO states that counterfeit and substandard drugs are roughly 10 percent of the global drug trade. According to them, no firm estimates of counterfeit and substandard drugs are available.