After launching the drug alert system to make the public aware of the drugs declared substandard after the tests in the regional labs, the Union health ministry is planning to make the mechanism more effective by asking all the States to follow the suit and even going for advertisements in the newspapers.

The Central Drugs Standard Control Organisation (CDSCO) had launched the system of publicizing through its website the brands and batches of drugs which were found to be substandard in the tests by the regional drug testing laboratories since last November.

It is learnt that the Central authorities have now asked the State drug control units also to follow the same so that the public can come to know of the batches. Maharashtra and Kerala have already similar system in force and the Centre wants other States also to be pro-active in this manner.

Another suggestion under consideration is to place advertisements in the newspapers about such cases regularly so that wider attention could be ensured. Because, by the time some cases were found to be substandard, the damage would have already done and it would take time for the public to be aware about the particular batches.

However, sources said placing advertisements would be an expensive option and needs to get clearance and separate budget. Sources in the Ministry said the feasibility of the option was being studied.

The Parliamentary panel which went into the functioning of the CDSCO had last year raised the issue. Based on its recommendations, the CDSCO had started the system of uploading the information on its website every month. The panel had also urged the CDSCO to advise the retail chemists to stop selling the unsold stocks and return the same to local drug inspectors as per rules.

“The Committee is convinced that this is a herculean task, which can be achieved only when the efforts of the Centre and State Governments are fully synergized. Drug alerts of evaluations by central drug laboratories though welcome would not take care of this acute problem in entirety as the state drug laboratories handle major volumes of such evaluations. The Committee, therefore, desires the Ministry to take up this matter with State Governments on a highly proactive basis to ensure its early fructification. It also desires early decision by the Ministry on utilizing newspapers in this task,” the Standing Committee on Health has noted in its recent report also.

Meanwhile, the CDSCO had so far declared 53 samples as substandard in the last six months after testing in the regional laboratories. On an average, the drug labs have been reporting around 10 cases as substandard every month out of hundreds of samples collected and sent by various zonal offices of CDSCO.  During the last four months from January this year, the drug testing laboratories reported a total of 43 cases. In January, the number of cases reported as substandard were 12 while it went down to 10 in February and 11 in March. In April, the CDSCO labs reported 10 cases, mostly from the Eastern region.