SMS alerts soon on banned, spurious drugs
Kerala initiative will ensure that doctors, pharmacists and the public are immediately informed about developments
Thiruvananthapuram: In a bid to protect people from the spurious and banned drugs that are flooding the markets in Kerala, the state government's Drug Control Department will alert the authorities as well as people on mobile phones. The unique programme, claimed to be first in the country, will be launched in a couple of weeks.
Under the system, the department will soon launch a mobile phone network and it will send alerts to those in the network once a drug is banned or a spurious drug is introduced in the market.
The fast-track system will ensure that users will be immediately intimated about a banned medicine.
Officials in the Health Department, medicos, pharmacists and the public can receive alerts from the Drug Control Department within three minutes after a drug is banned or found spurious. The facility can be availed of by registering with the department's website www.dc.kerala.gov.in.
"Once the department is fully computerised, all those who are associated with the health care system and the public will be able to open an account in the website of the department," Drugs Controller of Kerala C.S. Satheesh Kumar said.
Paperwork
Once the users link their mobile phone numbers with the website, they would receive the alert in three minutes, which could help in bringing transparency to the whole system, he said.
At present, he said, only a limited number of people could use the facility. But after upgrade of the computer facilities of the department, everyone would be able to register their phone numbers with the department's network.
Kumar said at present it takes weeks for informing a hospital, pharmacist or dealer about the drugs that have been banned.
"The paperwork is really cumbersome and takes a lot of time. The drawback of paperwork is that the banned or spurious drug would be in the market for a long time before pharmacists or doctors know about it. And by the time the notification reaches the doctor, the patient would have taken several doses of the banned medicine,'' he said.
