It is true that medicines are used to save lives but they can cause health risks for many if they are adulterated. Every year millions of people die due to taking counterfeit medicines. Especially, the African and South East Asian countries are bearing the most brunt of counterfeit medicines.
It is reported by the World Health Organization that only in Africa more than 120,000 people die every year as a result of fake anti-malarial drugs alone. Protests are raised against adulterated drugs around the world but the question is how far we have saved the humanity from the menace of fake drugs? Like many other countries Bangladesh is also suffering from fake drugs menace.
In pharmaceuticals sector, Bangladesh has made a remarkable progress. There are more than 257 pharmaceutical factories in the country. They are producing 2400 brands of medicines every year. It is true that the pharmaceutical companies of the country have earned international acclamations for producing quality drugs.
In the early eighties, the people of this country had to depend on imported medicines. Currently, apart from meeting up the national demands of medicines these factories are exporting medicines to more than 145 countries of the world.
Despite creating huge possibilities in the pharmaceuticals sector, can we deny the menace of fake drugs? We cannot as the country's market is being flooded with counterfeit, dishonest, unauthorized, and unregistered drugs. These contaminated drugs are posing serious health hazards to human beings.
People who are involved in producing, marketing and selling fake drugs, they are none but beasts. They are worse than the killers playing with human health. Studies reveal that adulterated drugs may cause kidney, liver and heart damage and in most cases those who take fake drugs may lead to death.
Adulterated drugs are pushing people to death and life-time injury but how far we raise voices against fake, unauthorized and substandard drugs? No remarkable initiatives to make the mass people aware are yet to be found in the country. Certainly, it is good to see that some apps have been developed to check whether the drug is authentic or fake. Using bar codes of the drugs we can identify the authentic status of the drugs sold in the market but this cannot be the inclusive solution to combat the drug counterfeit.
As per the report of the World Health Organization (WHO), one in ten medical products circulating in low and middle income countries is either substandard or fake. In Bangladesh different sources estimate that around Tk 600 crore of counterfeit medicines are traded in the Tk 18,000 crore medicine market each year. Again the Bangladesh Pharmaceutical Industry Association reports that the annual sales of fake and substandard drugs in the country are over TK 1500 crore. It is estimated that 20 per cent of the total sales come from those of adulterated drugs.
Fake drugs flood around the country but in most cases the users are hardly aware of them. The scenario is more devastating in the countryside. Pharmacies and medical store owners sell fake drugs to the consumers in order to make double the profit than that of original products. In the rural area as people prefer low-cost medicine, it is easy to sell substandard and counterfeit medicine.
Medicinal shops in the rural areas are full of substandard and fake drugs. It may aback you when you notice that how the ordinary village people are cheated by the pharmacy owners in the rural areas. In the guise of running their business their sole intention is to sell fake and substandard medicines to be profited more.
Recently, the law enforcers have raided two drug markets at Midford in the capital and seized huge adulterated medicines and creams. On charges of selling adulterated medicine and creams three owners of pharmacies were arrested. More often the law enforcers conduct the drives against selling fake and subpar medicines. Especially, Midford areas in the capital have been the fertile ground for producing and selling fake drugs. Some syndicates work behind to carry these fake drugs to the pharmacies across the country.
Again, some pharmaceuticals companies are alleged that they are producing substandard drugs and exploiting the consumers. It is evident that they are neither using quality medicinal substances nor appropriate quantity of the substances required to produce a drug.
But there is a provision under the Good Manufacturing Practices (GMP) policy of the WHO, as per Section 15(1) of Drug (Control) Ordinance, 1982 that every drug company must produce standard medicines. If any drug company does not abide by this provision, their licenses would be cancelled or suspended and the owner may be sentenced for up to five years in prison for producing substandard drugs.
Amid the Covid-19 pandemic fake sanitizers, face mask and health equipment were rampant in the market. Things were like that it was a scope for dishonest syndicates to boon their business with unauthorized and fake health products which have posed serious health threats to the users. Experts opine that counterfeit medicines not only cause fatalities but also have the severe financial impact for the consumers.
The National Drug Policy 2016 says that "the selling of fake, adulterated, expired, unregistered, counterfeit, misbranded drug are punishable offenses due to hindrance of good governance in the drug sector, consequently, drug manufacturers, organization, wholesale and retail seller are all accountable". According to the policy, if any person associated with production, marketing, sale, distribution of adulterated drugs must be subjected to legal action and the Directorate General of Drug Administration will have the authority to cancel the license of the respective perpetrator.
Despite the policy to save people from fake drug menace, adulterated drugs are being produced and sold across the country. It is time to ponder over how this malpractice could be ended. It is imperative to strengthen monitoring against the adulterated drugs and the perpetrators must be meted out exemplary punishment as they are pushing millions of people into severe health threats.
The writer teaches at Prime University and is a research scholar at the IBS
