The percentage of counterfeit and substandard drugs sold on the market is increasing, but the government has failed to give adequate attention to the problem, a Ministry of Health official said.
“Today, anyone can basically sell or buy counterfeit drugs in this country,” Chroeng Sokhan, vice director of the Ministry of Health’s Department of Drugs and Food, said Monday.
“It’s a great problem for the population, but the government is still silent on this issue,” he said.
In a meeting organized last week in Hanoi by the World Health Organization, representatives from Burma, Cambodia, China, Laos, Thailand and Vietnam met to discuss international strategies and national programs to fight the spread of counterfeit drugs in the Greater Mekong Sub-Region.
Counterfeit drugs are drugs that are “deliberately and fraudulently mislabeled,” according to the definition given by the WHO.
The medicines can be, at best, ineffective but can also lead to drug resistance or death. It is estimated that up to 25 percent of medicines consumed in poor countries are fake or of bad quality, the WHO said.
Dr Yim Yann, president of the Pharmacists Association of Cambodia, said that, in 2002, a Health Ministry survey revealed that
13 percent of drugs available on the Cambodian market were counterfeit or substandard.
“This touches all kinds of medications, but mainly anti-malaria drugs and antibiotics,” said Dr Nam Nivanna, director of the National Laboratory for Drug Quality Control.
During the WHO meeting in Hanoi, Chroeng Sokhan presented Cambodia’s “2004 Action Plan” against fake drugs, for which he intends to receive $40,000 in funding from Australia.
While some counterfeit drugs are produced inside the country, most are smuggled in through Cambodia’s porous borders.
“You can’t just accuse a foreign government for the infiltration of counterfeit drugs from its country,” Chroeng Sokhan said. “Authorities in different countries have to communicate and work together to get rid of criminal gangs.”
In the 2004 action plan, a large amount of money is intended to heighten awareness on the dangers of counterfeit drugs, but another major target—and one which requires no money—is informing government officials, Chroeng Sokhan said.
“Our major goal is to convince higher-level decision-makers of the magnitude of the problem,” he said. “We can only do so much without their action.”
The National Laboratory for Drug Quality Control is testing market samples of antibiotics, vitamins and analgesics. The results will be presented early next year to different ministries to try to get their cooperation, Chroeng Sokhan said.
Earlier this year, the National Center for Parasitology, Entomology and Malaria Control Program identified a counterfeit anti-malaria drug manufactured by a company that did not give an address but claimed to be based in Thailand, said Lon Chan Thap, a staff member at the center.
“The justice department, police and customs need to work together to arrest the criminals,” said Yim Yann. He said most counterfeit drugs are distributed through the private sector—from which 80 percent of the population gets its medicine.
While the public sector only provides drugs registered with the Ministry of Health—among which 5 percent were still recorded as counterfeit or substandard in the 2002 survey—private outlets use both registered and non-registered drugs, Yim Yann said.
“A lot still has to be done,” he said.
“We need to strengthen drug law enforcement in Cambodia, but also fight the corruption which occurs at every level.”
