The Story Of The Pill

Is a pill, just a pill? Most definitely not. In the first of a series of six articles, Organisation of Pharmaceutical Producers of India (OPPI) launches the Know Your Pill initiative, to educate patients on the untold story of the medicine and the intrinsic value of quality that make a pill much more than just a pill.

Have you ever heard the story of the pill?

As we set out to tell you the fascinating story of the pill from the lab to the market, we recognise that some of the chapters in this story would read- A pill is more than just a pill; Good medicines come in quality packages; The journey of the Pill; The Pill House and finally The Rotten Pill.

Each time we pop a pill, feed syrup to littles ones, vaccinate our babies or inject a medicine into our critically-ill loved ones, the most obvious is the hope that all the above will work. But, we are totally oblivious to the untold story of the medicine. While it owes its existence to research and discovery, the intrinsic value of the pill in its living form lies in its quality. Quality does not confine itself to manufacturing only. It includes packaging, labelling, transportation and storage of a medicine. All of these elements in the supply chain are critical for a medicine to retain its effectiveness.