Vaccines, anti-cancer drugs may soon carry QR codes

The move aims to make product-level traceability mandatory for four critical drug categories

- priyanka [e-mail]

The government aims to protect patients from counterfeit and substandard medicines.

(AFP)

India is set to tighten rules on the sale and distribution of four crucial lifesaving medicine categories—vaccines, antimicrobials, narcotic and psychotropic drugs, and anticancer drugs—to safeguard public health, according to two government officials aware of the matter and documents reviewed by Mint.

As part of the plan, the government has proposed a major overhaul aimed at securing the pharmaceutical supply chain and protecting patients from counterfeit and substandard medicines.

This revamp involves inserting a new section under Schedule H2 of the Drugs and Cosmetics Rules, 1945, which currently requires certain drug formulations to carry a bar code or quick response (QR) code on their packaging. The move aims to make product-level traceability mandatory for these four critical drug categories.