E-drug: Philippine DoH warning on fake drugs
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[Copied from Scrip no 2724 February 27th 2002 as fair use]
The Philippine Department of Health (DoH) has issued a strong public warning
over the dangers of counterfeit and fake medicines, noting that up to Pesos
300 million (US$ 6 million) worth of such products are confiscated every
year in the country. This is nevertheless less than 1% of the country's
Pesos 50 billion drug market, and probably only a fraction of the total
counterfeit market, the DoH said. 80% of confiscated drugs are not
officially registered, while the remainder do not meet state quality
standards, with most illegally imported from other Asian countries, it
added. The DoH is working with the Bureau of Food and Drugs and the PHAP
(the local industry association of R&D-based companies) to raise awareness
of the risks of counterfeit drugs and how to recognise them. A number of
pharmacies selling such products have been closed down in the past.
Kirsten Myhr, MScPharm, MPH
Head of Eastern Region Drug Information Centre
RELIS Ost
Ulleval University Hospital
N-0407 OSLO
Tel: +47 23 01 64 11 Fax: +47 23 01 64 10
kirsten.myhr@relis.ulleval.no (w)
www.relis.no/
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