To check genuineness, send SMS before popping pills

Mumbai: Now before popping a pain-killer or having cough syrup, you can be sure that it's not fake thanks to an innovation designed to curb the menace of spurious medicines. Strips of popular and commonly-used medicines like Combiflam, Disprin, Crocin, Voveran and multi-vitamin Becosules will soon carry a unique code, which when sent via SMS will help verify the medicine's genuineness. 

    Companies like Roche, Lupin and Unichem have already started rolling out medicines in the new packaging with the unique code and many, like Sanofi, Pfizer and GlaxoSmithKline, are planning to follow suit. 
    This is how it will work: Consumers will need to send the alpha-numeric code printed on the medicine strip through their mobile phone. They will then get an SMS confirming genuiness along with health tips and drug-refill reminders. 
    While there is no uniform figure to determine the penetration of spurious or misbranded medicines in the country — with industry and the government offering varying estimates — the health ministry recently announced that of the over 48,000 drug samples tested between 2011 and 2012, nearly 5% failed the quality test, while almost one in three drugs (36%) were found to be "not of standard quality" from across the country. States like Maharashtra and Kerala are among the worst affected and have a larger proportion of sub-standard drugs, particularly in semiurban and rural areas. 
    Medicines may be substandard in quality or spurious when they are past their expiry date, contain incorrect quantity of ingredients or wrong ingredients, and when they have not been stored in proper conditions. Vaccines and anti-diabetic drugs, for instance, need cooling chains for transportation and storage. 
    Mostly, the drug's efficacy suffers but, in certain cases, it may cause serious side-effects and even be fatal. There may also be instances when these fake medicines offer no therapeutic benefits. 
    It is virtually impossible to tell the difference between real and fake medicines unless a laboratory analysis is carried out. Since that's may not be a practical solution, drug companies along with regulators have been trying to counter the menace through measures like barcoding, embedded holograms and RFID, but have met with little success. 
    Industry sources say the medicines that are faked most are of brands that are fast-moving and have a high turnover. 
    Certain companies are not rolling out the new packaging because of cost issues, and because many of their medicines are under price control. 
State has 1 govt doc for every 24K people 
New Delhi:On an average, a single government doctor serves more than 12,000 people in India while each government dental surgeon serves around 3 lakh. The WHO- recommended norm is to have one doctor for every 1,000 people 
    The latest figures on human resources, finalized by the Central Bureau ofHealth Intelligence and published in the National Health Profile 2011, show that the ratio of a doctor against an average population served is worst for Gujarat, followed by Tamil Nadu. One government doctor serves 25,168 people in Gujarat, 25,042 in Tamil Nadu, 24,540 in Maharashtra and 23,174 in Bihar. The figure is 17,811 for MP, 8,416 for Bengal and 3,933 for Delhi. However, when it comes to dental surgeons, the ratio is the worst in Bihar. A single dental surgeon in a government hospital serves 35.46 lakh people in Bihar and 20.57 lakh in Maharashtra. TNN