Speakers at a seminar on "The Menace of Fake/Counterfeit Drugs in Pakistan" urged to educate consumers so that public should know basic ways of identifying counterfeit medicines. The seminar was organised by the Pakistan Medical Association (PMA) in collaboration with The Helpline Trust here on Wednesday.
Speakers also said that the ministry of health should start campaigns, continuing education, and refresher courses for those who are involved in the pharmaceutical trade. They said that new strict laws should be formulated to curb the counterfeit drugs. Regulatory authorities could also enforce anti-counterfeit techniques (Holograms, colour shifting inks and watermarks). They demanded to establish more quality drug testing laboratories in the country.
They suggested that a new force like Anti Narcotics Force should be formed or the monitoring of medicine should be given in the jurisdiction of ANF.
Additional Health Secretary Sindh Dr Captain Majid (retd) said that government has taken many steps to curb this crime in the country.
He said that most of the counterfeit medicines manufacture in other provinces and sell in others. "We do not have enough workforce as only six drug inspectors are available to cover whole Karachi city having population of more than 14 million", he said adding that despite of many problems the health department is committed to stop this crime to save the nation.
General Secretary PMA Karachi Dr Qaiser Sajjad, in his presentation told that according to World Health Organisation (WHO) a counterfeit or fake medicine is one, which is deliberately and fraudulently mislabelled with respect to identity and or source. The counterfeit drugs may contain wrong active ingredients, wrong amounts of the ingredients or no active ingredients at all.
The counterfeit drugs result in death or disability and becoming leading causes of therapeutic failure and disease resistance.
The Food and Drug Administration (FDA) says that 10 percent of all drugs sold in global medicine market are counterfeit while according to WHO 25 percent of drugs consumed in developing countries are fake.
Dr Qaiser Sajjad said that counterfeit drugs are 40 to 50 percent of all the drugs present in Pakistan. Pakistan is considered one of the 13 countries of the world where the manufacturing of counterfeit medicines is on the rise.
According to a WHO study Pakistanis are spending 77 percent of their household health budgets to buy medicines. Half of these medicines, which are being bought with their hard-earned money, are fake. The large-scale presence of counterfeit drugs not only creates distrust of the existing healthcare system but can also have serious social and economic implications.
In British House of Common Charles Walker has identified Pakistan "as a country where counterfeit medicines were produced". He warned that the funds generated by this trade could be used in money laundering or sponsoring terrorism. These are serious allegations and not only have tarnished the image of Pakistan but also of the ministry of health and the credibility of the pharmaceutical industry.
This in turn shows the public health policy failure and depicts that our drug regulatory and legislative authorities have failed to ensure effective and safe drugs for the nation. Law enforcement body does not command people trust. There is no proper system to monitor the manufacturing process and credibility of drug maker. Distribution network of fake drugs is very organised.
Dr Aziz Khan Tank, General Secretary College of Family Medicines, Hamid Maker Chairman Helpline Trust, Dr Habib Ghori, Dr Siraj-ud-Daula, Shaukat Hayat Advocate, Dr Usman Ghani, Dr Sabiha Mirza Khan, Dr Shakil Malik, Dr Tipu Sultan, Dr Ubaid Assistant Drug Controller, Abdul Haseeb Khan MD, Brooks Pharmaceutical, Dr Ali Akbar Sial and others also spoke on this occasion.
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