WARNING: 25% of drugs consumed in Nigeria are fake - WHO

..............WHO estimates global sales of counterfeit medicines at over $40 billion a year.............

The World Health Organisation (WHO) estimates that about 25 percent of medicines consumed in some developing countries, including Nigeria, are counterfeit or substandard.
Painting the stark scenario at a seminar in Lagos, Lekan Asuni, President of the Association of Nigerian Representatives of Overseas Pharmaceutical Manufacturers (NIROPHARM), described the situation as
a global challenge requiring swift counter-measures.
An initiative of the National Agency for Food and Drug Administration (NAFDAC) and NIROPHARM, the seminar was organised to commemorate 2012 World Anti-Counterfeiting Day.
The annual event calls attention to the growing problem of counterfeit and pirated goods, and this year's event was themed, 'Fake Medicine Kills... Take a closer look'.
Asuni described drug counterfeiting as having far-reaching negative effects which have bearing on the well-being of the people and the economy of the country.
He said that drug counterfeiting exposes consumers to dangerous and ineffective products and retailers to reduced consumer demand and profits.
"It reduces scales of operation and erodes profit (for manufacturers)," he said.
"It deprives governments of revenues for vital services, it forces higher burdens on taxpayers and dislocates hundreds of thousands of jobs."
Asuni said that the WHO estimates global sales of counterfeit medicines at over $40 billion a year.
"And we all know that Nigeria is not left out of this crisis," he added.
He blamed inadequate legislation, weak enforcement and a poor distribution system for encouraging drug-counterfeiting in the country.
Describing counterfeiters as "merchants of death", Asuni labelled them as a major cause of recurrent illnesses.
In her reaction, the Assistant Director of Pfizer for Nigeria and East African Region, Margaret Olele, likened using fake drugs to taking a bullet in the head.
She identified a coordinated effort involving various stakeholders in the pharmaceutical industry, as the best way to fight drug-counterfeiters.


Leave a comments...thanks!