State Government will submit proposal to Centre: Health Minister

Mysore/Mysuru: Health Minister Dinesh Gundu Rao has announced that the State Government will submit a proposal to the Centre to make QR codes mandatory on medicine packets, enabling visually impaired persons and others to access essential drug information independently.

Speaking at a roundtable organised at JSS Pharmacy College’s Sri Rajendra Hall in collaboration with JSS Academy of Higher Education and Research (JSS AHER) and Export Japan, the Minister said, printing QR codes containing drug details on medicine packs would be a major step towards inclusive healthcare.

The Minister noted that Japan has implemented QR code technology on medicine packs, allowing patients to scan and obtain details such as usage instructions, price and expiry date.

No additional costs

He clarified that the initiative would not impose additional costs on pharmaceutical companies and assured that the Government would support firms that adopt the technology.

Emphasising the need for regulation, the Minister said the Health Department and Drug Control authorities would oversee implementation and hold discussions with pharmaceutical companies in the near future.

“There is a need to make the use of QR codes mandatory. This must be taken seriously by the Health Department and Drug Control authorities,” he said.

The meeting was attended by JSS AHER Vice-Chancellor Dr. H. Basavanagowdappa, Dr. B. Manjunath, JSS Pharmacy College Principal Dr. T.M. Pramod Kumar, Japanese experts Tokuhiro Arakawa and Bitany Partin, Deloitte Tohmatsu representatives Japataro Sunahara and Kenta Miyamoto and District Health Officer Dr. P.C. Kumaraswamy, among others.

More than 500 visually impaired participants from Karnataka, Kerala, Andhra Pradesh and Telangana took part in the event and shared their views, highlighting the importance of accessible healthcare innovations.