Drive against unscrupulous business

We have to be cautious about critical products, which have a direct impact on health like pharmaceuticals and other healthcare products, cosmetics etc. Particularly when it comes to medicines-- the dosage accuracy and stability of the end product are very critical for their pharmacological action. There must be strong surveillance on such products and occasional investigation into manufacturing floors of the pharmaceutical and healthcare products should be done by recognised bodies comprising international and in-house experts. We don't know what we are taking to cure our diseases. We just complain that these medicines don't work. Besides cheap and adulterated imported products from India, there are many small local companies who use substandard raw materials in their formulations. Such products not only cause ineffective therapy, they can result in lethal toxicities.

Do we know what our daily care products like soaps, detergents, toothpastes, lotions etc really contain? These are the high volume products with good margins and potential for adulteration is also high due to the wide range of chemicals used in these. We doubt whether BSTI has the strength in terms of expertise or technical facilities to keep these essential products off the hands of unscrupulous businesses. Why not take help from WHO or FDA or any such organisation that can independently look into the situation in our country. This will surely help create public awareness and check adulteration.