Assam: Spurious medicines sold like vegetables in weekly markets!

Staff Reporter

GUWAHATI: A section of people selling spurious medicines in weekly markets, like green grocers, has been very common in Assam. This practice may create health hazards among the public.

In the recent past, officials from the health department seized some medicines and arrested a few people engaged in selling spurious medicines in weekly markets. However, the drive is largely inadequate to arrest the menace that is elephantine.

According to sources in the Health Department, this practice is generally very common in weekly markets in areas dominated by people belonging to a minority community. “In our raids, we have seen this practice prevailing in areas dominated by minority people in districts like Barpeta, Nagaon, Mangaldai, Morigaon, Goalpara, etc. They can sell their medicines because their target customers are gullible people who have no idea about fake medicines that are quite identical to genuine ones. The price line is one of the reasons for gullible people buying such medicines,” one of the officials said.

A health inspector said, “Such people sell some vitamins, cough syrups, gastro gels, etc., which are spurious in nature. Gullible people buy such gels and other medicines as the price line is lower than pharmacies. There are some unregistered manufacturers and dealers who keep supplying such spurious medicines to the retailers who frequent weekly markets on a regular basis.”
According to official sources, the department cannot keep an eye on each and every weekly market in the state due to a paucity of manpower. Apart from these, the department has to keep an eye on fake pharmacies and fake pharmacists who also sell spurious medicines, the sources said.

Sources in the department said that they have instructed the district health officials to visit the weekly markets from time to time so as to keep the menace at bay.

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