New Delhi: With sale of fake and spurious drugs continuing unabated in the country, industry body Assocham said the market is growing at an alarming rate of 20-25 per cent, which has already exceeded the Rs 15,000-crore per annum mark nationally.

"At all India levels, fake and counterfeit drugs are so widely disbursed that their estimates as per latest figure exceed Rs 15,000 crore per annum," Assocham General Secretary D S Rawat said. The market for such spurious drugs are increasing at the rate of 20-25 per cent annum, the chamber said.

The chamber also pointed out that the sale of spurious drug in the National Capital Region (NCR) is to the extent of Rs 300 crore per annum and according to the latest information available, it has gone upto 20-25 per cent of the total medicines sold in the region. "..therefore a beginning (to combat the menace) ought to be made may be in the NCR region," Rawat said. Intensification of the sale of spurious drug in the region has not only severely impacted business of original drug manufacturers in the region by over 25 per cent but is also putting the life of patients on risks, the chamber said.

The concentration of fake drugs manufacturing facilities can be found in locations such as Bahadurgarh, Ghaziabad, Aligarh, Bhiwadi, Ballabhgarh Sonepat, Hisar and parts of Punjab which are closed to the NCR, it added. The shortage of drug inspectors and proper lab facilities for checking purity of drugs and inherent weakness in drug distribution system are the main reason for the spread of fake drugs in the NCR, the chamber pointed out.

Source : PTI