Falsified medical products pose serious threats to public health, says Ivorian doctor
Abidjan, Côte d'Ivoire (PANA) - Inferior or falsified medical products pose serious threats to public health, Dr Siembou Koné, a doctor at the National Institute of Social Training (INFS) of Côte d'Ivoire, said on Thursday in an interview with PANA, .
Dr Koné stressed the harmfulness of these falsified medical products which do not contribute any active ingredients on the health of the patients who use them.
He noted that in addition to not curing the pathology, a patient is at risk of worsening his health, including kidney or liver failure.
Dr Koné identified several causes that favour the consumption of lower quality medical products such as self-medication due to difficulties in accessing health services, the prohibitive cost of certain drugs for low-income patients and selective health insurance for the economically weak.
"I give you a very simple example: a single diabetes drug - Diamicron - costs 13,750 F CFA each month to a diabetic patient. The only option for a low-income person is to buy from street drug vendors with a high risk of being served with a lower quality medical product. That is the reality!", explained Dr Koné.
In his view, the fight against the consumption of falsified medical products must focus on educating the population about the harmfulness of such products and on inclusive health coverage. The implementation of the Ivorian national strategy to combat counterfeiting and falsification of medical products resulted in the seizure and destruction of 400 tons of counterfeit medicines in October 2018.
In addition, in December 2018, the Ivorian public authorities created the Ivorian Pharmaceutical Regulatory Authority (AIRP). This independent administrative authority, established by Act 2017-541 of 3 August 2017 on the regulation of the pharmaceutical sector, is a supervisory and management structure for the pharmaceutical, parapharmaceutical and medical biology sectors.
It has enhanced regulatory powers to protect consumers from counterfeit, false or falsified pharmaceutical products, thereby ensuring that people have access to effective pharmaceutical products of proven quality.
The World Health Organization (WHO) reports that substandard or falsified medical products cover all major therapeutic classes. Currently, more than 920 products have been reported.
According to WHO, in low- and middle-income countries, one in ten medical products are fake.
-0- PANA BAL/BEH/MTA/VAO 5Sept2019
