In order to efficiently and effectively tackle the menace of spurious and fraudulent drugs, the Karnataka Drugs Controller Dr BR Jagashetty has proposed a technology action plan, which includes better coordination and co-operation between states, computerization, bestowing additional powers to the drugs control department's officers and interaction with various departments in the government.

Dr Jagashetty said that with the present system, the pharmacist, doctor, manufacturer and government are passing the buck when it comes to spurious drugs, leaving the poor patient at the mercy of the system.

The department has been entrusted with major responsibilities. Its enforcement wing is the State Intelligence Branch which uncovers and tackles the menace of spurious drugs. Regular inspections of sales establishments, drawing samples from drugs stores and pharmacies attached to Government hospitals for test and analysis and investigation of complaints besides launching of prosecution against the defaulters and follow-up of court cases, are some of the major assignments.

Dr Jagashetty stated that the inspectors face difficulties in effectively cracking down on illegal activities when it involves other states since they seldom receive cooperation from officers outside the state. Often, despite prior information, the other states seldom depute officers to assist the team from Karnataka in investigations. With this, the investigating team has to face a lot of hurdles.

In spite of the presence of e-mails, fax and mobile phones, information regarding the movement of spurious drugs and adulterated drugs is not received in time. Despite DCC's directive to State Drugs Control authorities to ensure inter-state cooperation during investigation, it is not followed, he regretted.

Since the present manual filing system is fraught with delays, costly, inefficient and is prone to errors, establishing IT infrastructure would go a long way in streamlining the department's functioning. This would improve coordination, speed up operations, increase transparency, cut cost, improve efficiency besides help citizens. Further, it would also improve inter-departmental interaction, like the police during raids, file tracking and knowledge management. Monitoring at district level becomes easier and helps collect and compile reports, said Dr. Jagashetty.

As an extension to computerization, Dr Shetty suggested the setting up of a website that details about manufacturers, sales outlets, licensing procedures, various fee structures, list of spurious and not-of-standard drugs, besides frequently asked questions.

However, Dr Shetty said that implementing these proposals would require adequate funding, which he said was lacking at the moment.