“As medical technology, pharmaceuticals are not only products of human culture, but producers of it” Van der Geest, Whyte & Hardon
There seems to be large population today for which it has become a culture to find solution in pill for every petty problem. With ever changing lifestyle and mass branding, the psychology towards consuming drugs has increased. Drugs consumption is harmful and self prescription is dangerous. On closely looking at many problems I arrived at conclusion that the regulation of drugs in India needs large reform. Most commentators agree that the state should intervene to prevent untrammeled market forces leading to citizens’ suffering, because adequate information about the costs and benefits of different pharmaceuticals is inaccessible to most users.
To address this issue Parakh was made. In this system all the medicines will have QR code provided default by the manufacturers. This will ensure tracking of each medicine. When the code is scanned information relevant to the consumer will be revealed. The medium of mobile phone adds immediacy and ease to use Parakh.
Issues
1. Inaccessible information about medicine
2. Cost of similar drugs
3. Self prescription
4. Access to the drugs which should be regulated
5. Prescription without qualification
6. Interactions with other drugs, food and alcohol
7. No/ low visibility of essential information
8. Unethical promotion and strategies
9. Ethical promotion and the restriction of incentives to prescribers and pharmacists
10. Local-language labeling and information sheets
11. Eliminating harmful, ineffective and irrational combinations of drugs
12. Pharmaco-vigilance
Information relevant to the consumer:
1. Expiry date and manufacturing date
2. Content
3. Allergy the medication can cause
4. Side effects
5. Interaction with other drugs , food and alcohol
6. Similar medicines with same formulation with cost and ratings
Also certain features that I believe that might be helpful:
1. User generated rating, reviews and experience
2. Ease of lodging complaints in event of spurious drugs
3. Forum to discuss
Working:
• Scanning QR code will reveal the information
• Parakh is a vade mecum, the information which a user requires instantly after scanning is given on first screen. This includes expiry date, notification about the drug if it should be consumed by prescription only, known allergy/allergies.
• The system also provides information about the content of the medicine, its interaction with other drugs, food, alcohol and side- effects.
• Similar drugs category provides cost, ratings and brands which sell the same drugs.
• To make customers proactive, a section is provided where customer can lodge a complaint directly to drug regulatory bodies like FDA.
• User reviews and ratings data will also be shown.
• Language problem can be solved by providing information about the content in all regional language. The information is accessed from database stored on cloud. Thus a community of well informed and aware nation can be established.