Red vertical band on medicine strip New Delhi, Oct. 23: India's drug industry has opposed the Union health ministry's proposal to make a 5mm-wide red band mandatory on packaging labels of prescription-only drugs, claiming that this would increase manufacturing costs and pitching an alternative labelling plan. "Adding a broad red band would make things unviable, should people use magnifying glasses to read labels?" Chemists are expected to sell H1 medicines only on prescriptions and maintain records of their sales. "It is not possible to enforce prescription-only sales in the country right now. "So a conspicuous red band will be a step forward - it could make people aware that they are taking special medicines, it could be a way to raise awareness."

Source: The Telegraph October 23, 2016 21:45 UTC