WHO warns of spread of counterfeit drugs in Asia

The World Health Organization warned on Friday that counterfeit drugs being sold in pharmacies across Asia could be deadly.

The problem is most prevalent in countries in the Mekong region because of their open borders, WHO regional spokesman Peter Cordingley said.

"If this is not stopped, we will have a public health crisis in Asia,'' he said.

Dr. Budiono Santoso, WHO regional adviser for pharmaceuticals, said the most common fake drugs include antibiotics and medicines to treat tuberculosis and malaria.

He said fake drugs, which mostly victimize poor people who seek cheap medicines, are a US$30 billion a year business and account for 3 percent to 10 percent of medicines in both unlicensed and licensed pharmacies around the world.

"They are silent killers. They can cause treatment failure of diseases that can kill people,'' Santoso told reporters in Manila.

A conference on counterfeit drugs in the Mekong region to be attended by WHO and Interpol representatives is to be held in Hanoi, Vietnam, next week.

The Mekong region, consisting of Cambodia, Myanmar, Laos, Vietnam and Thailand, is particularly vulnerable to the entry of fake drugs because of its relatively open borders, he said.

Truls Eriksen, WHO technical officer for pharmaceuticals, said it is difficult to determine producers of fake drugs, although he noted that India has admitted in the past that it was a source of counterfeit medicines.

Eriksen said it is also extremely difficult to differentiate between genuine and counterfeit medicines. "Even the licensed pharmacies can't identify counterfeit drugs,'' he said.

Manufacturers of fake medicines use wrong or insufficient ingredients. Some fake anti-malaria medicines contain only starch, he said.

The U.S. Food and Drug Administration says that patients using counterfeit medication may experience unexpected side effects, allergic reactions, or a worsening of their medical condition. The counterfeits may also contain hazardous ingredients.

-- AP 2003-11-08

the people are poor enought, these baster that sell counterfeit drugs harm them even more, what a sad sad world we living in

Agree Tomy , the lowest of all IMO.

If only there was a real life drug dealer near eth hub a dub