Since the 1980s, counterfeit drugs have emerged as a significant global problem that has affected health and economics tremendously. The problem was first addressed internationally at a conference in Nairobi in 1985. Thirty years have passed, and since then, there have been many incidents of counterfeit drugs happening around the world, with an estimated worth of around $200 billion. 

In 2013, Ranbaxy USA (a subsidiary of Indian pharmaceutical manufacturer Ranbaxy) was charged by the United States in regards to certain generic drugs, including Sotret, Gabapentin, and Ciprofloxacin, not being up to the quality mark suggested by the FDA. Not only this, the WHO declared a forewarning for Southeast Asia when they discovered two falsified hepatitis C drugs and a falsified yellow fever vaccination. Unfortunately, India and China have continued to be the two leading players in the counterfeit world. These countries produce most of the generic and branded medicine worldwide and consequently have a worldwide consumer base because of their mass coverage. The opioid crisis in the US and the majority of the deaths related to it are from the synthetic heroin fentanyl manufactured in China. Besides these, around 200 people died in Pakistan in 2012 after taking contaminated heart medication, and another 60 people died after drinking cough syrup to get high. In Hong Kong, about 40 percent of Viagra sales turned out to be fake. The list of cases is never-ending, but regrettably, it is only the tip of the iceberg of what is happening worldwide. Nepal has not escaped from this horrendous problem as well. Research conducted in the Kathmandu Valley reported that substandard medicines are abundant in the Nepalese pharmaceutical market, and there was no uniformity in similar pharmaceutical products.