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Manufacturers of counterfeit medicines must be brought to book

Published : Wednesday, 6 November, 2024 at 12:00 AM  Count : 316
SHEIKH SAYMON PARVES
In Rabindranath Tagore's short story "Tyag," when the hero Hemanto is excited by the desire to offer his wife Kusum a passionate moment, then heroine Kusum's response is, "I know a secret law that all these moments can break lies."  As a writer in the present context, like Kusum, I too know a secret law that can destroy all our potential progress, present and future, which is an unspoken secret law of genocide. And that law is the proliferation of counterfeit drugs. 

It is true that although the quality of the medical system in Bangladesh is in a fragile state, the pharmaceutical industry has a good reputation and trust in the global market. At the same time, medicines are exported to the outside world to meet the needs of the country.  Bangladesh, the country of golden fibers, has already lost its place in the world market in jute exports, but the reputation of the clothing and medicine industry is increasing. 

Export Promotion Bureau (EPB) statistics show that 46 domestic companies export 300 types of pharmaceutical products to the world market. Bangladesh is dreaming of earning billions of dollars in foreign exchange from the world market just by exporting medicines. Intellectual property exemptions in the pharmaceutical industry as Least Developed Countries (LDCs) have increased for 17 years. As a result, the pharmaceutical industry of Bangladesh is getting an intellectual property exemption until 2033. Bangladesh wants to use this opportunity to increase the size of medicine exports. 

It is just to talk about the growth and prosperity of the pharmaceutical industry. Just as a drop of cow's urine destroys a bucket of good milk and turns good milk into spoiled milk, counterfeit medicine has transformed the promising pharmaceutical industry from a tool of lifesaving to a tool of mass murder.

Let me first clarify the reason why counterfeit medicine is called a tool of genocide. All the misdeeds, corruption, or dishonest activities in this world are indirectly related to the fundamental rights of people. But only these counterfeit medicines directly affect people's lives. A life-and-death game like this is not possible in any other process. Because the bitter result of counterfeit medicine is imposed on human life. Therefore, the last solution is death. This death cannot be called normal death. This death is one kind of murder.   This killing is not limited to any family or society; this killing is spread over the entire nation. Therefore, I am telling the reason why this killing is a kind of genocide and unexplained.
 
Like hero "Hemanto," the hero described in the introduction section, we do not know what kind of disastrous situation awaits us. Which is still unpublished and unspoken, but it is only time to reveal. Therefore, this genocide is an unexplained genocide, the tool of which is  counterfeit medicine.

 Let me give an excellent example to understand the counterfeiting process.  Pharmacy Professor Dr. Munir Uddin Chowdhury has given an example of counterfeit paracetamol in an article. A paracetamol tablet contains 500 mg of paracetamol as the active ingredient. Formulated medicines are formulated by mixing other ingredients to give the tablet shape, including the addition of starch, lactose, or other inert ingredients to increase volume with the active ingredient. Sometimes the amount of active ingredient is so low (e.g., 1 mg) that it does not provide the dosage form. 

So, the medicine is made by mixing inactive ingredients and increasing the volume. A medicine cannot be called medicine if it does not contain active ingredients. Without the use of paracetamol, tablets can be made using only starch or other ingredients that look exactly like a paracetamol tablet. No one but a graduate pharmacist can tell if they are taking paracetamol or something similar to paracetamol.

 It is not possible to determine the quality or substance of a medicine without a pharmacist. Because we, the masses, are ignorant about it. We are so ignorant that even if we are given a medicine made from sand and clay, we are not even able to understand whether it is genuine or counterfeit . And this is the reality. The problem arises when graduate pharmacists are isolated from government-level drug quality assurance. Opportunity is not being given at the field level. 

I saw in some newspapers that the Dhaka Metropolitan Police arrested a gang of seven members who were manufacturing counterfeit medicine of various famous local and foreign brands. It is dangerous to know that the high-cost medicines for cancer, kidney, and heart are mainly counterfeited and adulterated in the hope of more profit. So this is like a blow to the dead.

According to the Bangladesh Bureau of Statistics (BBS), the contribution of the pharmaceutical industry to the national economy is increasing. In the financial year 2016-17, the contribution of the pharmaceutical sector to the GDP was 1.85 percent. At present, 150 of the 257 affiliated companies are in production. In the last year 2019, the report on the pharmaceutical industry sector of EBL Securities said that the market of the pharmaceutical industry is Tk 20 thousand 511 crores. The average growth of this industry in the last five years is 15.6 percent. An average growth of 15 percent is expected over the next five years. According to the data, the pharmaceutical industry has improved tremendously over the past four decades.
 
Bangladesh has surprised the whole world by producing paracetamol at low cost. Not only that, the country manufactures many rare medicines for heart disease and exports them abroad. The pharmaceutical industry is making a breakthrough contribution to the economic growth of a country. The pharmaceutical industry of the country is progressing day by day .  With so much reputation of the pharmaceutical industry, the availability of counterfeit medicines is a bad sign for the country's national life.

 It is good to mention the previous experience: the demand and reputation of the jute industry in the world market were lost due to the activities of a few unscrupulous traders. The loss has not yet been recovered.  In the same way, the reputation of the immense potential pharmaceutical industry and the trust of the people of the country should not be held hostage by some corrupted businessmen. However, it is not possible for the common man to identify genuine or counterfeit medicine. Not being able to identify is normal. But it is good to know some personal things. 
According to the advice of the World Health Organization (WHO), there are a few ways to identify counterfeit medicine. In the case of syrups, tonics, or similar bottled medicines, first of all, if there is any lump in the seal or packaging of the medicine bottle (the color of the wrapper, the shape, the spelling, etc. should be checked), first of all it should be checked. 

If you notice any difference or anything suspicious, return the medicine to the seller. In the case of medicines such as pills, tablets, or capsules, check whether any part of the medicine is broken, whether the amount of medicine powder inside the transparent capsule is less or more than before, and whether there is any difference in the color of the medicine. In this case too, the color, shape, spelling, etc. of the medicine packaging should be carefully checked. The packaging of any medicine has its 'Unique Authentication Code' written on it. 

Apart from this, if the body starts to feel discomfort after taking the medicine, the doctor can be contacted without any delay in case of allergy. If necessary, that medicine can be shown to the doctor. It is a kind of personal awareness. 

Appointing pharmacists in government hospitals in Bangladesh is laudable but should be increased in number. Then it will help to improve the quality of medicine and the quality of service. Pharmacists should be appointed for supervision at field level. As a result of market supervision, the awareness of drug sellers and buyers will increase regarding fake medicines. Also, the fairness of the law must be ensured. However, the existing drug laws of our country have a maximum ten-year jail term for manufacturers of counterfeit and adulterated medicine. 

Therefore, we hope that the highest punishment for these silent killers should be the death penalty. We never want life to be endangered by the spread of counterfeit drugs and the potential pharmaceutical industry to collapse in the global market. Life is no longer a game. We should be aware of counterfeit medicine in Bangladesh. If you don't  eat food in a period , it's not harmful for you, but for taking counterfeit medicine in your body , you will be enlisted for dead today or tomorrow.

This writer is a campus journalist and a student of the Pharmacy Department at Mawlana Bhashani Science and Technology University



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