Counterfeits cause concern for company H&S implementation

Oil and gas companies responsible for the health and welfare of their employees in developing countries need to be increasingly vigilant against the growing possibility of unintentionally supplying staff with ineffective and potentially dangerous counterfeit medicines.

Organisations whose medical supply lines involve purchasing drugs and pharmaceuticals local to their overseas workforce are increasingly at risk of being wrong-footed, as recent data published by the World Health Authority highlights the widespread existence of counterfeit medicines. And the problem is not just confined to developing countries. Cases of copycat products have been reported in high consumption, high value drugs in countries all over the world.

Dr Brian Wells, consultant pharmacist to medekit.com, stresses that the main problems with counterfeit medicines are that they may be very difficult to detect and that it is impossible to have any idea of what they contain. He says, "Fake products are a major concern, not only because they may contain ingredients, or quantities of ingredients, other than those listed which could be dangerous for the patient, but also because in some cases the treatment may be totally ineffective."
Examples reported by Dr Dora Akunyili, chief executive of the Nigerian National Agency for Food and Drug Administration and Control (NAFDAC) at the 2003 British Pharmaceutical Conference, included counterfeit Fansidar tablets (used to treat malaria) which were discovered to really be Paracetamol (acetaminophen). This deception could prove fatal to a malaria victim.

The World Health Organisation received reports of 42 cases of counterfeit drugs from 20 different countries in the period between Jan 2000 and December 2001. The majority of these, some 64%, involved products with no, or low, active ingredients. In another 24% of cases, the product ingredients were found to be incorrect.

The incidence of counterfeiting is endemic in a wide range of products including well-established, generic brands. The main focus in developing countries has been the import and production of fake antibiotics and antiprotozoals, such as antimalarial drugs. A recent WHO survey into the quality of antimalarials in seven African countries revealed between 20% and 90% of products failing quality testing. In Vietnam, a drug used to treat tuberculosis had the highest fail rate of 26% in a programme of random testing.

While medicines remain expensive and in relatively short supply, the motivation for the counterfeiters is high and the spread of bogus medicines is only likely to increase. The problem is exacerbated by the fact that most countries have yet to implement any effective legislation against either the counterfeiters or the phoney drugs.

Advice from the WHO encourages consumers and organisations only to buy products from licensed pharmacies and drug outlets.

Adds Dr Wells, "Confidence in the source of medicines is the key factor. For oil companies, the safest option may be to import from a reputable company in a country which ensures that all medications are licensed within a rigorous system, procured via an approved audit trail and dispatched from, government approved, inspected and licensed premises."

For more information on how to source safely and securely pharmaceuticals and medical supplies for employees working in remote sites and overseas, visit www.medekit.com.