Counterfeit Drugs A Growing Concern

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What Ails You

Wednesday, 10 August 2011 02:30

By Everton Barnes

Antigua St John's - Pharmacists from across the Caribbean are meeting in Antigua this week amidst growing discussion on the sale of drugs on the local market without English labelling.

President of the Antigua Pharmaceutical Society Algernon Roberts said this is among the issues to be raised during the 31st Caribbean Association of Pharmacists conference at the Royal Antiguan Hotel this week. But Roberts sees this issue as part of a bigger one, ie the trafficking of counterfeit drugs through Latin America and the Caribbean. In fact, he said a special workshop will take place during the conference where the matter will be dealt with in detail.

“Trafficking in counterfeit drugs is now the third biggest illegal business globally, ranking just below human trafficking and illegal drugs. This comes after narco-traffickers recognised that law enforcement authorities worldwide are making it much more difficult for them to ply their trade, so they are gradually turning to counterfeit drugs as replacements,” Roberts noted.

According to Roberts, the level of sophistication in the counterfeit drug trade is at such a level that pharmacists need special training just to recognise these products. “For example, they have even taken branded products, copy the labeling and place the copies on counterfeit drugs," he said. "They also have tablet imprinting machines to stamp the name of the drug companies on these tablets, thereby making it more difficult to tell the difference between the genuine drug and the copy."

The Pharmaceutical Society president said quite often, the counterfeit drugs contain nothing more than glucose, cement, chalk, and a small quantity of the active ingredients. He noted that the traffickers often take advantage of countries where the laws are weak, such as Latin American and the Caribbean, as well as Africa. He said the Caribbean is used a transshipment point for counterfeit drugs heading for other destinations, similar to illegal drugs, and he believes that just as in the case of illegal drugs, some counterfeit drugs remain in the Caribbean.

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