About 1% of all the medicines sold in the world are likely to be counterfeit. In percentage terms 1% may seem to be small, but given that the global medicine trade is in the several billions, this small percentage is a very large number in absolute terms.The problem of counterfeiting is especially rampant in Asia & Africa but it also exists, surprisingly in a region like North America. Here, the problem may not be of only counterfeiting, but also of diversion.

Implementing RFID systems is of course not the only answer to the pedigree problem, but is by far the most attractive. A manual paper & pen based system is certainly possible but unworkable as the amount of paper trails will be huge adding to the supply chain inefficiencies.

1. The system will make it impossible to pass on counterfeit drugs as genuine ones and thereby solve a major problem for all healthcare consumers.
    
2. For supply chain participants, it ensures that only legitimate drugs passes through their channels so they can thus breathe easily.
    
3. Governments can choke off the supply of illegal drugs and ensure that all legit taxes are collected.

1. If EPCGlobal and Big Pharma can pull it off together, they can ensure that everybody globally follows a standard set of Electronic Product Codes for prescription drugs. Since available EPCs are in the hundreds of thousands, this should not be a problem.
    
2. Tracking can be enabled through secured connections using either dedicated telecommunication channels or the internet.