NEW DELHI: India today hit back at a report published by US-based think-tank American Enterprise Institute (AEI), which claimed that some Indian drug makers produced sub -standard medicines for selling in Africa , saying it was "a smear campaign" against Indian pharmaceutical industry.

"Quality is one of the major focus for pharmaceutical exports from India. Indian companies meet the quality requirements of all our importing countries. India looks at healthcare as a holistic issue rather than just commercial business," said a statement by India Brand Equity Foundation ( IBEF ) quoting Department of Commerce Joint Secretary Sudhanshu Pandey.IBEF is a trust set up by the Department of Commerce with a primary aim of promoting and creating global awareness of the 'Made in India' label overseas."Realising the serious damage that such an irresponsible report is trying to make, the pharma industry has asked the government of India to initiate legal proceedings against all concerned," IBEF said.Washington-based AEI in a study published this month had concluded that overall 'Indian-made' medicines revealed two data patterns -- "first, drug quality is inferior among drugs purchased inside African countries compared to those purchased inside India or middle-income countries"Second, the biggest driver of this quality difference is the substandard drugs that contain insufficient API and are non-registered in the African destination.Disputing the claims made by AEI, IBEF said it, on behalf of the government of India, has taken "strong objection to a smear campaign being orchestrated" by the AEI against the whole Indian pharmaceutical industry."It seems that the effort is to tarnish the image of the Indian pharma industry which it has painstakingly developed over the years and is often recognised as "Pharmacy of the World," the statement said.The study has not been reviewed by any of the authors' peers as is the gold standard in serious academic publishing. The study cites anecdotal evidence and hearsay, quoted earlier in the author's other publications, as facts with established academic provenance, it added.Supporting the government position,Indian Pharmaceutical Alliance (IPA) Secretary General D G Shah said: "The study recognises that products with 'Made in India' label may not be actually made in India. The study also recognises that transportation and storage conditions could have impacted the quality of products."But ignoring these realities, it still attributes poor quality (of drugs at the consumer end) to manufacturers and the Indian pharma regulator."