Bitter Medicines… 19 December 2007

Recently the World Health Organisation (WHO) conducted an international conference. Two independent pharma experts from India attended the same. They have summarised what other speakers had to say about the quality of medicines manufactured in India. Please read on.

· First the good news: Pharma company CIPLA scored 100 percent quality success.

· More than 50 percent of Indian medicines were accepted. Others failed to qualify.

· Another pharma company Ranbaxy qualified in around 54 percent of the applications it submitted. Rest failed.

· One of the Indian medicines did not show any efficacy at all. It was useless.

· Some of the Indian medicines including anti retroviral drugs used for treatment of AIDS sold in African countries were of poor quality.

· In quality, China was ahead of India (and we doubt the Chinese quality!)

Medicines which were rejected by WHO, were approved earlier by the Indian drug authorities. Why they failed to qualify at the international level? What are we hiding? Who is responsible? It is time the country did something about it. Wake up, please.

S .Gopal ….Keying in is better than idling

Safety….for whose sake? 19 November 2007

I asked the car driver: `Why have you not fastened your seat belt’ ?

`It is very inconvenient’.

`You have to use the seat belt for your own safety’.

`What safety, Sir, with such roads’?

`It is compulsory as per law’.

`What law Sir?; there is no police on this road’.

`If a constable spots you’?

`I will give him 100 rupees and drive off’

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I asked the mobike rider: `Why are you not wearing a helmet?’

The conversation was similar to the one cited above.

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Such is the callous attitude towards safety, whether one is driving down the wrong side of the road, speaking on cell phone while driving a car or a two wheeler, working in a construction site, or using an un-insulated electrical wire.

It’s high time people start understanding the importance of following safe practices as laid down by experts after careful consideration. In fact, most of the rules are simple common sense.

Many of the violators are parents; what example are they setting for their young ones!

S .Gopal
….Keying in is better than idling