Increase
in the widespread use of counterfeit medicines in the Middle East region will
be the main highlight of the Pharmaceutical Logistics Middle East Summit set to
take place from February 26 to 28.
Top Dubai Customs and Ministry of Health
officials will speak at the summit which will be held at the Amwaj Rotana
Dubai, said a statement.
Counterfeit medicines, already widespread in
the developing world, are now being found increasingly in the Middle East.
Counterfeits have been found to contain toxic substances, the statement said.
Others contain no active ingredient, or the
wrong amount of it - damaging to any medical treatment, but dangerous when
patients are being treated for serious illness. In most cases, it is impossible
for the non-expert eye to distinguish the fakes from the originals.
The World Health Organisation’s International
Medical Products Anti-Counterfeiting Taskforce (Impact) estimates that fake
pharmaceuticals make up 1 percent of drug sales in developed countries and
approximately 30 percent in some countries in Asia, Africa and Latin America.
The appearance of counterfeit medicines in
international commerce was first mentioned as ? problem at the WHO Conference
of Experts on Rational Drug Use in Nairobi, Kenya, in 1985, it said.
Since then, public awareness of the problem of
counterfeit drugs has grown. Both government authorities and pharmaceutical
companies have been concerned with efforts aimed at preventing the problem, and
WHO has received reports related to counterfeit drugs from some of its member
states on ? voluntary basis. The problem is known to involve both developed and
developing countries.
“Dubai sits at the node of several transit
points. Goods from Africa and Asia bound for the rest of the world pass through
the city’s ports at a fast pace. This pace – approximately six hours for sea
cargo to be checked, driven through Dubai’s roads and put on an outbound plane
– appeals to people trying to ship illicit goods,” said Mohammad Al Mari, head
of the Intellectual Property Rights Section of Dubai Customs.
“In UAE, health and customs officials are
working together to develop strategies for preventing counterfeit drugs, they
have established a national committee on counterfeit drugs and have increased
the number of inspectors at entry points,” said divisional director of pharma
events, Doaa Said.
The chair of the new national committee and
the CEO of medical practice and licence at the Ministry of Health, Dr Amin Al
Amiri, said the committee will extend its reach beyond the pharmaceuticals used
to treat chronic conditions like diabetes, hypertension and cardiovascular
diseases preferred by counterfeiters to medical devices and food supplements.
“It is not just the fake medicines that pose a
threat to public health. We need to prevent fake medical devices and food
supplements too,” Al Amiri said. “That is why the committee wants to monitor
the import and export of medical devices and food supplements as well.”
“Knowing the important role of the Ministry of
Health and Dubai Customs in preventing counterfeit medicine and the necessity
to engage them with the pharmaceutical companies, we have invited Dr Amin Al
Amiri and Yousef Ozair, manager of Intellectual Property Rights at Dubai
Customs to join the Pharmaceutical Logistics Middle East Summit and we look
forward to engaging all the required stakeholders to ensure patient safety,”
said Said.
The Pharmaceutical Logistics Middle East will
gather world leading experts to address the urgent concerns and challenges of
the pharmaceutical logistics industry and the latest trends in the pharmaceutical
supply chain management, the statement said.
TradeArabia News Service
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