Government plans to introduce QR barcodes for vaccines, cancer drugs and antibiotics to stop fakes in the market

QR codes may be made mandatory for vaccines, cancer drugs and antibiotics to prevent the supply of counterfeits.

These QR codes will validate the authenticity of the medicines, as scans will display the name and address of the manufacturer; batch number; date of manufacturing; date of expiry; and manufacturing licence number, among other details.

The plan follows the last year’s move by India’s apex drug regulator for strict implementation of bar codes or QR codes on 300 common medicine brands such as Allegra, Shelcal, Calpol, Dolo, and Meftal Spas.