Over 750 medical companies adopted GS1 standards to beat fake products: CEO

Since the start of the COVID-19 pandemic, over 750 companies have adopted standards set by Ministry of Commerce and Industry-backed GS1, for identifying their healthcare-related products with global standards. 

 

The companies include those manufacturing sanitisers, masks, drugs, medical devices, test kits, etc. “Healthcare is the noblest, crucial, and innovative industry in the world. Amid the crisis of COVID-19, it became instrumental for the healthcare industry to augment the efficiency multiple folds in order to save lives of people by bridging gaps in the industry,” said Sachidanantham Swaminathan, CEO, GS1 India informing over 750 companies have adopted the standards without naming them. 

 

In a bid to authenticate their products, the companies are looking at adopting the GS1 standards which become significant during the pandemic. The World Health Organization (WHO) in August 2021 had said it had found fake Covishield vaccines in Kolkata. The global public health agency had said that the products were reported to it in July and August. Following this, the health agency had urged India to increase vigilance in the country.  

 

Apart from vaccines, from January to December 2020, 39 instances of substandard hand sanitizers containing methanol were reported 27 by the Central Drugs Standards Control Organization (CDSCO).   

There were also reports of substandard personal protective equipment (PPE) kits, including N95 masks, being supplied to frontline hospital workers. Substandard remdesivir was withdrawn from the Indian market in September 2020. During 2020, there were also multiple reports of substandard dexamethasone. 

 

“There is a need for a traceable vaccine and medical products to address supply chain  safety and help tackle the issue of counterfeit products. A health system with transparency and  visibility, sees the movement of prescription drugs or medical devices across the supply chain.  This also helps in absorbing demand fluctuation, ensuring product availability, meeting pedigree  requirements, dealing with counterfeits, and managing product recalls. This requires the use of  common standards globally,” Swaminathan said. 

 

Swaminathan said that the use of GS1 standards in healthcare increases patient safety, drives supply chain efficiency and safety, data synchronization by improving the traceability of medicines. Also, it is intended to become a foundational framework to identify specific requirements of the businesses and help them manage healthcare costs more accurately.  

 

“GS1’s healthcare traceability standards help reduce costly errors and counterfeiting of medical products. They enable medical devices to be traced and located more efficiently throughout the supply chain through the point of use. Tracing backwards identifies the history of the transfers and locations of a product, from the point of manufacture onwards,” said Swaminathan. 

 

GS1 Automatic identification system (barcode or RFID) uses the globally recognized GS1  identification keys to unambiguously identify trade items, locations, logistic units, and assets. It helps in point-of-care screening, reducing medical errors by the administration of right medicines to the right person, in the right dosage at the right time, preventing counterfeiting,  verifying patient identity via barcoded wristbands, recording implant serial numbers in patient  records, tracking and tracing assets and instruments, stock control. Unique product identity  further helps in bridging the identity of products in digital supply chains. 

 

GS1 standards helped these companies meet the challenges in the healthcare industry during such challenging times ensuring the timely, safe and transparent supply of the products. They also track which products go to which patient by scanning and capturing the barcode and impact the healthcare sector is the most trusted and reliable manner. 

 

“Fuelled by the COVID-19 pandemic crisis and a drastic increase in demand, incidents of spurious and substandard drugs went up by 35 per cent (from 2020 to 2021) according to reports. Anti-infectives, masks and insulin injections came out as the most commonly counterfeited products. An astonishing number of cases of fake COVID vaccines from across the country came to light and now we frequently see reports of fake COVID test reports and test kits,” said Nakul Pasricha, President, Authentication Solution Providers' Association (ASPA).

“The government and pharma brands need to make the task for counterfeiters much more difficult by implementing physical and digital anti-counterfeiting solutions such as holograms and track-and-trace to secure the supply chain,” he said. 

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