STM Article Repository

Pharmaceutical drug serialization is typically a regulatory requirement adopted by major nations to combat pharmaceutical drug counterfeiting. Since the 19th century, drug fraud has been a serious issue for the healthcare sector. Periodically, regulatory and healthcare organizations struggle to reduce the risk of negative effects brought on by fake drugs. Drugs are frequently imitated to lower production costs while still being sold as genuine medicines. Developing nations lack the capacity to supply and implement counterfeit detection technologies on a wide scale to prevent drug counterfeiting [1]. To reduce the risk of illegal and counterfeit drugs entering the market, the digital traceability of pharmaceutical drugs has proven to be an incredibly effective process. Currently, every drug packet in developed nations like the United States and Europe must have a unique identifier with a 2D barcode. On the other hand, it is difficult to implement digital traceability of pharmaceutical drugs in developing nations due to a lack of technical infrastructure, lax regulations, geopolitical unrest, poverty, low literacy, and political will. Generally, Economic depression in developing nations prevents them from allocating cash for research and development that would enhance their healthcare systems. The recent COVID-19 pandemic also contributed significantly to the collapse of their whole healthcare system. Global supply chain limits and resource scarcity have an influence on developing nations, causing inflation and unemployment.