The National Informatics Centre (NIC) is developing a software to ensure that every drug marketed in the country can be traced to its manufacturing sources and tracked through the supply chain, with a view to weed out spurious drugs from the markets.

The initiative, expected to be ready by the next month-end, has been taken up as per the advice of the Allahabad High Court in which the industry had challenged a decision of the Health Ministry to introduce barcoding system of drugs in the domestic industry.

The work is being done under the direction of a task force set up by the Drug Controller General of India (DCGI) as directed by the High Court. The NIC, which was tasked to develop an effective end-to-end drug tracking system, also is looking at the software developed by the Gujarat Food and Drug Control Administration (FDCA), that facilitate issuing of immediate direction for stoppage of any sale of drugs if they are found to be sub-standard or spurious.

Meanwhile, source said a final decision on introducing barcodes will be taken based on the recommendations of the task force and the directions of the High Court as the matter is sub-judice. The task force has held several rounds of meetings with the stakeholders in Ahmedabad, Bangalore and New Delhi. The sub-committee has Drug Controllers of Tamil Nadu, Gujarat, Uttar Pradesh, Goa, Arunachal Pradesh, Karnataka and the representative of NIC to address the concerns expressed by the High Court.

According to the submission made in the HC, the subcommittee at its meeting in Ahmedabad backed the introduction of barcode and unique identification number on the primary packaging. A suggestion was also mooted by the authorities that a toll free number would be provided, wherein any person can check whether drug bearing unique identification number had indeed been sent by the bonafide manufacturers or it has been purchased from some extraneous unauthorised dealer.  It also suggested that the Drugs and Cosmetics Rules 1945 be amended to effect the proposed changes in the label and packaging of medicines.