History of Drug Counterfeiting and Methods of Combat
by Peter Anderson SEOHeadlines
are filled with different brand of medicines being counterfeited in many
developing countries; Studies are bursting with statistics showing 1% of
medicines in the United States are fraud while global production claims 30%.
Reviews are flooded with negative reactions from netizens on how NGOs should
have obliterated counterfeiting by now; World Health Organization (WHO) is busy
jotting down methods to combat this illegal practice; Non-profit organizations such
The
Peterson Group, icare.com and Anti-Counterfeiting Inc. receive
complaints on their system and process of battling against drug counterfeit; Different
government units such as that of Jakarta, Indonesia, Beijing and Shenzhen,
China are scrutinized for loose security system. All of these issues have a
sole reason for being: the existence of counterfeit medicines.
The struggle and concern against drug counterfeiting is as old as
medicine itself, although not as rampant as it is today.
In as early as 400 BC there have been warnings of their presence as Dioscorides,
a Greek physician, pharmacologist and botanist wrote in his ‘Materia Medica’
about the detection of counterfeit drugs. In the recent past, the unregulated proliferation
of pharmaceutical industries and products has brought problems of extreme
magnitude.
Concern regarding counterfeiting took a global scale after the
establishment of WHO in 1948 but it was not addressed in an international sanction
until 1985 in the Conference of Experts on the Rational Use of Drugs in Nairobi. The meeting suggests that WHO together with
government units and NGOs should study the feasibility of setting up a study to
conclusively know the real extent of the problem.
In 1988, the World Health Assembly requested the director-general of WHO
to create a policy that would regulate the production, importation, exportation
and distribution of medicines. The resolution also requested WHO to create
alliance with UN secretary-general in case international provisions are
violated.
The first international meeting on counterfeit medicines, a workshop conducted by WHO and the International Federation of Pharmaceutical Manufacturers Association (IFPMA), was held from April 1-3, 1992 in Geneva.
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Created on Dec 31st 1969 18:00. Viewed 0 times.