Hyderabad: In a significant digital initiative aimed at strengthening patient safety, the Drugs Control Administration (DCA), Telangana, on Monday launched a Bulk SMS Alert System to immediately notify medical shops about drugs declared as “Not of Standard Quality” (NSQ), commonly referred to as substandard drugs.
The new system is designed to instantly alert pharmacies and wholesalers across the State to stop the sale and distribution of such medicines, ensuring swift withdrawal from the market.
Immediate alerts to medical shops
Under the newly introduced mechanism, SMS alerts will be sent to all retail pharmacies and wholesale drug dealers in Telangana whenever a drug sample is declared as Not of Standard Quality (NSQ) by the Drugs Control Laboratory, Hyderabad.
These alerts will enable medical shops to promptly halt sales and prevent further distribution of the identified products, thereby reducing the risk of such medicines reaching patients.
What are NSQ Drugs?
Drugs categorised as ‘Not of Standard Quality’ are those that fail to meet prescribed quality parameters during laboratory testing. These include failures in critical tests such as:
Assay (active ingredient content)
Disintegration
Dissolution
Such deficiencies may render medicines ineffective in treating diseases, posing serious public health concerns.
Faster recall and market withdrawal
Officials stated that the Bulk SMS Drug Alert System will facilitate rapid and effective recall of NSQ drugs across Telangana.
By ensuring real-time communication with all sales units, the system significantly reduces delays in withdrawing substandard medicines from circulation.
The initiative enhances transparency by directly communicating details of NSQ-declared drugs to stakeholders, enabling them to take immediate corrective action.
Strengthening digital drug safety measures
With the launch of this system, Telangana has become one of the few States in the country to implement a dedicated Bulk SMS Alert platform for drug safety and regulatory communication.
The platform will also be used to disseminate critical drug safety alerts and other important regulatory information to stakeholders in the pharmaceutical supply chain.
Director General of DCA, Telangana, Shahnawaz Qasim, IPS, stated that the initiative reflects the department’s proactive approach towards protecting public health through digital strengthening measures.
The DCA emphasised that the system will play a vital role in ensuring that substandard medicines are swiftly removed from the market, thereby safeguarding patients across the State.
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