Scenario of Over the Counter Medicines Worldwide

Over the counter (OTC) drugs are medicines sold directly to consumer without any prescription. The OTC drug market in India is expected to grow by $6.6 billion by 2016 with Pharmaceutical companies and chemists increasing their presence in rural market. The market share of hospitals is expected to increase from 1.3% in 2009 to 26% in 2020. Also the Health Ministry has banned 344 fixed drugs combinations through a gazette notification issued over the weekend March, 2016. These include several cough syrup solutions, analgesics and antibiotic combinations and in which many of are sold over the counter. There is list of banned drugs which include Nimesulide which had been a cause for long for health experts for includes for its continued use in India despite being banned in most of the developed nations. Some of banned drug combinations are: a) Nimesulide + Diclofenac B) Diclofenac + Tramadol + Paracetamol C) Heparin + Diclofenac D) Azithromycin + Cefixime E) Telmisartan + Metformin and many more. Also India's OTC drug market stood at $3 billion in 2011 and a rise to $6.6 billion is forecast by 2016 according to sectoral document for pharmaceuticals industry. And in future India is known and expected to rank amongst top three pharmaceutical markets in terms of incremental growth by 2020.