A government survey today revealed that 3.16 per cent of the drugs have been found to be substandard. The survey conducted by the Health Ministry to determine quality of drugs also found 0.025 per cent of the drugs as spurious. <br/><br/>As per the survey, out of the nearly 47 thousand samples tested, 13 samples were found to be spurious and 1,850 samples were found to be Not of Standard Quality. The Ministry had entrusted the work of survey of the extent of problems of 'spurious and not of standard quality drugs to the National Institute of Biologicals, Noida. <br/><br/>The statistical design of the survey included as many as 224 drug molecules belonging to 15 different therapeutic categories of the National List of Essential Medicines . <br/><br/>As part of the survey, around 48 thousand drug samples relating to 23 dosage were drawn from 654 districts of 36 States from the supply chains including retail outlets and government hospitals. <br/><br/>Our correspondent reports this is the largest ever scientifically designed and professionally executed drug survey undertaken in the world for determining the quality of drugs.